BOSTON

PUBLIC

LIBRARY

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

A thing of beauty is a joy forever;
its loveliness increases ; it will
never pass into nothingness.

— Keats

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MME. LINA CAVALIERI

MY SECRETS
OF BEAUTY

BY

MME. LINA CAVALIERI

THE MOST FAMOUS LIVING BEAUTY

Including More Than 1,000 Valuable Recipes for
Preparations Used and Recommended by
Mme. Cavalieri Herself

ILLUSTRATED WITH NEW PHOTOGRAPHS OF

MME. CAVALIERI AND OTHER
FAMOUS BEAUTIES

PUBLISHED BY

THE CIRCULATION SYNDICATE, Inc,
NEW YORK CITY

Copyright by Star Company
Copyright, 1914, by Circulation Syndicate, Inc

-Gb

DEDICATED TO

EVERY SEEKER AFTER BEAUTY

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I The Care of the Complexion n

II How To Make Your Neck Beautiful 40

III Things To Do for the Eyes, Ears and Nose . . 47

IV Keeping the Hands, Arms and Shoulders Young . 61

V Massage as a Beautifier 74

VI What To Do for the Feet 80

VII The Proper Care of the Mouth and Teeth .... 89
VIII Duties Every Woman Owes to Her Hair .... 103

IX Useful Beauty Hints for Men 125

X The Care of the Nails and Fingers 129

XI Beauty Baths 143

XII Good Health — Beauty’s Foundation . „ ... 154

XIII How To Acquire a Pleasing Voice 175

XIV How To Improve Your Figure 181

XV Safe, Easy Ways of Reducing Weight 196

XVI How To Gain Flesh 217

XVII Exercises That Help Make You Beautiful . . . 230

XVIII Postponing the Dread Signs of Old Age .... 248
XIX How To Train Your Children To Be Beautiful . . 268

XX Advice to Blondes and Brunettes 271

XXI Sure Aids to Beauty 282

XXII The Beauty’s Personality and Her Clothes . . 301

XXIII Odds and Ends of Beauty Culture 310

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Madame Lina Cavalieri Frontispiece

FACING

PAGE

Mary Garden 12

Anna Held 62

Pauline Frederick 78

Maxine Elliott 126

Lois Ewell 142

Madame Cavalieri 238

Kitty Gordon 254

FOREWORD

IN this volume is presented what we confidently believe
to be the most complete collection of authoritative in-
formation on the subject of personal beauty and the best
methods of acquiring and preserving it ever offered to the
public in compact, handy, inexpensive form.

All the newest and best ways of helping a woman to re-
tain her youthful charm for an indefinite period are clearly
described in these pages, and with them are given more
than one thousand tested recipes which will be found of the
greatest assistance in attaining the desired end.

Every statement made in this book is based on long and
thorough practical experience; every recipe has the en-
dorsement of the greatest living authorities on aids to
beauty. Madame Lina Cavalieri herself has followed the
advice which she here generously passes on to other women.
The preparations for which recipes are given are all ones
the famous prima donna herself uses, and to their use she
owes the fact that for so many years she has been ac-
claimed the most beautiful woman on earth.

The woman who owns this book will be freed forever
from dependence upon unreliable “ beauty doctors ” and
expensive cosmetics of doubtful value. Here she has all
the best advice the world affords to help her make the most
out of the skin, the hair, the eyes, the teeth, the figure and
all the other charms with which Nature has endowed her.

Most of the thousand and more recipes this volume con-
tains can be easily prepared at small expense right in your
own home. And no one need have the slightest hesi-
tation about using any of them. Not only are they person-

FOREWORD

ally recommended by Madame Cavalieri but they have the
endorsement of all the greatest beauty specialists of both
America and Europe.

Great pains has been taken in their selection and any
whose value seemed doubtful or which might by any possi-
bility have harmful effects have been rigidly excluded.

The world to-day places a higher valuation upon per-
sonal appearance than ever before. And this is why a
book like this, which explains just how to make the most
of your physical self, is certain of a warm welcome from
the public.

The Publishers.

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

CHAPTER I

THE CARE OF THE COMPLEXION

FOR every woman — or, for that matter, every man —
who wants to have and retain a good complexion, the
one thorough toilet of the day should be made in the even-
ing. This done, the other toilets throughout the day may
be brief and more or less perfunctory.

The real housecleaning, particularly of the face and neck,
should take place at night. The reason for this is apparent.
The skin has been in contact with the dust and smoke and
countless other soiling agents out of doors. At night, im-
mured in the bedroom and swathed in bed clothes, there
is slight chance of vagrant dust settling on the skin.

Another reason is that if the day’s grime is allowed to
remain upon the face or neck, it becomes imbedded in the
pores, and a part of it, at least, is taken into the circula-
tion, and thus carried through the body.

Wash the face most thoroughly at night. First, with a
coat of cold cream which may be wiped away after leaving
it on for a few minutes. Second, with tepid water and a
mild soap. If you use a face cloth, let it be of soft silk
or muslin or cheesecloth, but personally I prefer just the
palms of the hands.

Do not rub the face hard. A hard rubbing loosens the
skin, causes the muscles to sag and makes wrinkles form.
ii

1 2

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

Last of all, give the face its cold cream bath. This is
indispensable to the person who would have a good com-
plexion. A skin food such as lanolin may be used instead
of cold cream for the face bath if preferred. A cold
cream that is excellent for softening and cleansing the skin
is made as follows:

Cocoa butter, 32 grams; spermaceti, 32 grams; oil of
sweet almonds, 160 grams; white wax, 16 grams.

A more elaborate and expensive cream that is also a
helpful skin food is compounded as follows:

Lanolin, 2^2 ounces; spermaceti, ounce; oil of sweet
almonds, 2 ounces ; fresh mutton tallow, 2^4 ounces, cocoa-
nut oil, 2 ounces; tincture of benzoin, ]/2 dram; Portugal
extract, 2 ounces; oil of neroli, 10 drops.

Almond milk is an old-fashioned favorite still in use in
some of the best formulae for complexion emollients and
bleaches. A good astringent cream that both bleaches and
softens the skin is this :

Almond milk from 50 crushed almonds; rosewater, 1
pint.

If the mixture is not smooth, it should be strained
through a cheesecloth or soft silk before using. In this
form it is softening and whitening. With the addition of
y2 ounce of alum it is strongly astringent besides.

With the cold cream or the skin food massage away the
wrinkles made by a hard day. With rotary motion, mas-
sage away from the corners of the eyes to the hair line.
In the same way, with the tips of the fingers, iron out the
lines which concentration has written between the eye-
brows. With the tips of the middle fingers, massage the
lines upward from the corners of the lips to the nostrils,
and try to eradicate the ugly little lines in front of the
ears by rubbing gently upward.

The care of the complexion in Winter differs consid-
erably from that in Summer. For example, to counteract

MARY GARDEN

The author of “My Secrets of Beauty” selects the famous prima
donna as one of the best examples of the ‘ ‘well rounded” woman.

A

THE CARE OF THE COMPLEXION

13

the coarsening, drying effect of the Winter winds, I use
more than the Summer quantity of cold cream. Winter,
too, is a greater promoter of wrinkles than Summer, be-
cause it dries the skin, and the wrinkled skin is always a
dry skin. The following formula will be found a valuable
aid when the skin shows a tendency to dryness:

Oil of sweet almonds, 60 grams; cocoa butter, 12 grams;
white wax, 6 grams; spermaceti, 12 grams.

For a few complexions cocoa butter is an irritant. For
these I would recommend this cream as more soothing:

Oil of sweet almonds, 100 grams ; white wax, 20 grams ;
spermaceti, 100 grams; rosewater, 10 grams.

Whatever cream is used it should be well rubbed into
the skin, after which what remains — all that the pores
will not take up — should be wiped off with a soft cloth.
The skin that is much exposed to the cold air should be
especially well fed.

In Winter, more than Summer, the face marred by un-
sightly red blotches shows its unlovely bent. First, I
should try for this internal remedies of a cooling, laxative
nature. Sour or buttermilk drunk in large quantities, say
six glasses a day, is much used at present to that end.
It has the effect of cooling the blood and is milder than
many such agents.

Another help in clearing a mottled skin is the complexion
mask. There are many mask pastes of various sorts which
are admirable for this purpose. From them I select this
one as the most worthy and effective of all :

•Liquid honey, 1 ounce; barley meal, 2 ounces; white of
one egg.

After thoroughly cleansing the skin at night, first with
cold cream, then with warm water and a mild soap, apply
the paste, spreading it smoothly and evenly with the fin-
gers upon the cheeks, nose and forehead. In the morn-
ing add ten drops of tincture of benzoin to a quart of

14 MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

warm water and with this remove whatever paste remains
on the skin.

It is easy to do the complexion irreparable injury in
Summer. One too long fishing jaunt, one automobile dash
with the skin ill protected against the burning sun; a too
long dawdling on the toasting sands, and the evil is done.
The once beautiful complexion has become a memory. In
its place is only a dry, withered remnant of what was once
a fresh, soft, rose-like skin.

How to prevent such a tragedy to beauty — for no
woman was ever beautiful without a good complexion, and
no woman with a good complexion can be less than at-
tractive— I shall try to tell you. First and last and al-
ways, vigilance.

First prepare your skin for an outing. It is best never
to use hot water on the skin. But if you insist upon that
pernicious habit, at least do not use it shortly before going
out, for the hot water renders the skin acutely sensitive
to any new influence. The wind cuts more deeply into
it. The sun’s rays burn farther. They reach the danger
line to which I have referred, and that really exists.

To prepare the skin for its battle with the elements of
a long Summer day, the face should be cleansed with tepid
water and almond meal instead of soap. The action of the
almond meal upon the face is soothing and cooling. Be-
fore going out into the heat dust the face lightly with rice
powder, which will adhere better if a very light coat of cold
cream has first been administered.

This famous old English cream is one of the best for the
purpose :

Cocoa butter, 2 ounces; lanolin, 2 ounces; glycerine, 2
ounces; rosewater, 3 ounces; elderflower water, 1 y2 ounces.

If sweet cream is available, bathe the face freely with
it. If this doesn’t quickly allay the burning, try this
cucumber cream:

THE CARE OF THE COMPLEXION

15

Almond oil, I ounce; olive oil, I ounce; white wax, 1
ounce ; spermaceti, 1 ounce ; essence of cucumber, 2 ounces.

If, as may happen in a country resort, this excellent milk
of cucumbers cannot be procured, follow the face bath of
sweet cream with one composed of :

Slices of one cucumber; sweet milk, 1 pint.

If the case is not hopeless but obstinate, this “ honey
balm ” should relieve the brown hue of tan that follows a
deep but not irremediable skin burning:

Orange flower water, 3 ounces; strained honey, 1 ounce;
cold cream, 2 ounces; white almonds (pounded to paste),
I ounces.

If the hands have suffered equally with the face this
lotion is effectual in reducing the unlovely redness:

Lemon juice, 1 ounce; strained honey, 1 ounce; cologne,
1 ounce.

Should the unusual exposure result in freckles the appli-
cation with a small sponge or bit of cotton, of either of these
I recommend:

Powdered borax, ]/2 dram ; sugar, y2 dram ; lemon juice,
I ounce.

Another application that may be used is made of :

Muriate of ammonia, dram ; lavender water, 1 dram ;
distilled water, 4 ounces.

If the case is less severe, I recommend for freckles
this :

Peroxide of hydrogen, 1 ounce; ammonia, 10 drops.

These may all be more deftly applied with a camefls-
hair brush than in any other way.

Strawberry water, which was the bath of some of the
court beauties of an extravagant age, may be used in season
by American beauties for the freshening of the facial skin
discolored by tan or withered by too great exposure or by
lack of care after that exposure to sun or wind. It is
made thus:

16 MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

Crushed strawberries, 2 pounds; alcohol (95 per cent.),
1 pint.

Before retiring it is well to give the face three baths,
first with pure cold cream to remove the coarser dust;
second, with tepid, if possible, distilled water — if not,
water softened with borax or benzoin — and, last, a light
coat of cold cream.

If the danger line has not been reached, nor even ap-
proached, these applications should restore the complexion
to its former delicacy in a few days. If the case is not
hopeless but obstinate, this paste should relieve the brown
hue of tan that follows a deep but not irremediable skin
burning. I have given to this, which I have often used
after an automobile tour, the fitting name, “ Honey Balm ” :

Orange flower water, 3 ounces ; strained honey, I ounce ;
cold cream, 2 ounces; white almonds (pounded to paste),
1 J/2 ounces.

This is one of the cooling creams desirable for use in
summer.

Oil of almonds, 1 pint; olive oil, I ounce; cucumber juice,
1 pint; white wax, 1 ounce; spermaceti, 1 ounce; cucumber
juice (which has been boiled, skimmed and strained), 2
ounces.

Excellent for freckles, tan and other discolorations is
this:

Sour milk, 1 cupful ; horseradish, 1 teaspoonful. Scrape
the horseradish into fine shreds and let stand in the sour
milk for six hours before using. Then wash the face freely
in it.

Fresh buttermilk is a cleansing, freshening, tan and
freckle removing face bath to be taken at night.

This, too, is a lotion which has been recommended by
many :

Citrine ointment, 1 dram; oil of almonds, I dram; sper-
maceti ointment, 6 drams; attar of roses, 3 drops.

THE CARE OF THE COMPLEXION 17

For either freckles or liver spots this has been in many
instances curative:

Solution of ammonia, 1 ounce; bay rum, 1 ounce; rose-
water, 1 ounce; powdered borax, 1 ounce; glycerine, y2
ounce; distilled water, 10 drops.

Still another formula for freckles and tan is this, which
has a great popularity:

Ammonium chloride, 1 dram ; distilled water, 4 ounces.

Some faces, otherwise pretty, are disfigured by a greasy
or oily skin in the summer. The need is met by this lo-
tion, which is at once cleansing, cooling and drying. It
should be used as a face bath twice or oftener a day, ac-
cording to need :

Rosewater, $l/2 ounces; alcohol, y2 ounce; boric acid,
l/2 dram.

After using any tan or freckle lotion containing acid,
cool the skin by massage with a pure cold cream.

For sunburn I would suggest, as an old and tried remedy :

Equal parts of oxide of zinc ointment and cosmoline.

Cooling for the sunburned surfaces is rosewater or a
solution of bicarbonate of soda. Apply them with a sponge
or bit of cotton, using them repeatedly until the burning
sensation disappears.

For the removal of freckles these have been recommended
after much use:

A solution of powdered niter, or a solution of bicarbon-
ate of soda. These should be applied to the face night and
morning.

Once after motoring on the Italian Riviera, I saw some
most unwelcome spots on my nose — light, yellow, obtru-
sive— resembling the dots with which a turkey egg is
flecked. A chauffeuse sent me this prescription, which I
have since used many times, always successfully:

Lactic acid, 4 ounces ; glycerine, 1 ounce ; rosewater,
ounce.

i8

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

This also is as efficacious as it is simple:

Glycerine, I ounce ; juice of J4 lemon.

For the excessive and odorous perspiration that troubles
many in summer, I recommend this formula for a dust-
ing powder. Its use should be preceded by a sponge bath
of the affected portions. Afterward apply the powder with
a soft cloth or powder puff :

Powdered alum, J4 ounce ; powdered boric acid, ^
ounce ; oil of eucalyptus, 20 drops ; subnitrate of bismuth,
1 ounce ; oil of verbena or orange, 5 drops.

For a refreshing bath in mid-summer this lotion, either
sprinkled freely into the bath or splashed upon the body by
handfuls immediately after leaving the bath, is my choice
among a score of such recipes:

Strong vinegar, 200 grams; tincture of benzoin, 200
grams ; tincture of red roses, 200 grams.

My favorite cold cream is this, which I have prepared
under my eye:

Lanoline, 10 grams; oil of almonds, 100 grams; rose-
water, 100 grams; white wax, 5 grams; spermaceti, 5
grams; oil of rose geranium, 5 grams. Melt the lanoline
and white wax and spermaceti. Add the oil of almonds.
Warm again and add the rosewater, little by little, stirring
all the time.

This is my favorite face powder:

Best talcum powder, J4 pound; boracic acid, J4 dram;
calcine magnesia, 1 dram; powdered Florentine orris root,
1-5 ounce.

This skin lotion I have used in the summer with much
benefit to my complexion. I have found it cooling and
healing :

Bitter almond water, 6 ounces; orange flower water, 4
ounces; glycerine, 2 ounces; boracic acid, 1 dram.

This is excellent for sunburn:

Sweet milk, 1 teacupful; juice of 1 lemon. Squeeze the

THE CARE OF THE COMPLEXION

19

juice of the lemon into the milk and let it stand in a cool
place until it curdles. On retiring apply the mixture to the
face with a silk sponge or a bit of cotton.

A face bath every night of buttermilk is helpful. Like
the preceding it should be washed off with tepid water after
it has been on the face for a half hour. If the sunburn
is deep and obstinate better try one of the milk baths sev-
eral times a day.

Another good treatment for sunburn is the application
of a stiff paste made of Fuller’s earth and rosewater.

This is a cooling face lotion, preventive and cure as well
of sunburned skin :

Orange flower water, 2 ounces; rosewater, 2 ounces;
tincture of benzoin, J4 ounce; borax, 1 % drams.

For freckles this simple preparation is one of the best I
have ever known.

Horseradish root, 1 ounce; borax (powdered), 2 drams;
hot water, 1 pint.

This more complex mixture is effective for blackheads
and tan as well as freckles :

Ammonia water, 1 ounce; bay rum, 1 ounce; rosewater,
1 ounce; powdered borax, 1 ounce; glycerine, ]/2 ounce;
distilled water, 10 ounces.

For the cornerstone of the care of my complexion I de-
pend upon the body bath. We who would be beautiful get
many hints from our physician, who is himself not at all
beautiful, but who, if we ob£y him, can make us so. He
talks about “ local treatment ” and “ general treatment,”
and he tells you that in most cases general treatment is far
more thorough than local.

That is the reason that I depend upon the body bath
more than anything else for my care of the complexion.
It is general treatment, while massage and the application
of lotions and creams are local treatment. Both are need-
ful, but the daily body bath is indispensable.

20

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

To make the bath tonic stimulant and agreeable I have
made many experiments. The most successful I have
found to be this:

To a tub half full of water add one pound of table salt
and one pint of violet ammonia.

The bath should be prepared ten minutes before one
enters it, for the salt should be thoroughly dissolved and the
ammonia should have been thoroughly mixed with the bath.

This I vary by the use of one pound of sea salt and half
a pint of aromatic vinegar.

These preparations being of an astringent nature should
not be used every day. Three times a week are enough
for their tonic effect. For a soothing bath I leave off the
salt and pour into the tub:

One ounce of tincture of benzoin and two bath pastilles,
scented to your taste, but never colored.

This is the way I take it. As soon as I rise in the morn-
ing I plunge into my tepid bath. The temperature I take
myself, to be sure that my maid has made no mistake.
When the thermometer which I thrust into the water regis-
ters about 98 degrees Fahrenheit I am satisfied. If higher,
it is too warm. If lower, it is too cold.

I permit myself just twenty minutes in the tub. More
than that is weakening. While in the tub I play about as
joyfully as a young porpois£. I plunge and flounder and
toss up a shower of water with my hands ; for to lie lazily
in a tub of water is to invite rheumatism and neuralgia.
I rub upon the brush quantities of the purest scented soap
I can get. I try first this, then that soap. I am always
trying to find something I like better than the last. I scrub
my body vigorously — as vigorously as the women of the
Loire pound their clothes upon the stones on the river.

I rise, streaming with rills of soapy water, and take a
cold shower bath upon my shoulders. Perhaps I use the
hose attached to the bath. Perhaps I catch the water as it

THE CARE OF THE COMPLEXION

21

flows from the cold faucet in my hands and throw it over
my shoulders. Perhaps my maid dips a sponge in the cold
water and dabs the upper part of my body quickly with it.
Then out of the tub I spring upon my bath mat and give to
myself, or my maid gives me, a quick rub with eau de
cologne. Thus the three purposes of my bath are fulfilled.
The warm water is cleansing. No one but an Englishman
believes that a cold tub cleanses the body. It merely gal-
vanizes it. To be clean we must use warm or hot water,
and hot water weakens the bather.

From the tepid water I am clean. It has left the pores
open as so many hungry mouths. The dash of cold water
closes them. It shocks and stimulates the skin, making the
blood, which has rushed to the centers of the body, bound
back again to the surface. The eau de cologne rubbed
slowly opens the sealed pores again. Then comes the
fourth and final stage of my bath. It is the exercise.

The exercise may be running about my bedroom a dozen
times, taking the sun bath. The body is too much clothed.
This is the only time that it ever drinks in the sunlight.
To take the sun bath at any other time would be dangerous ;
but immediately after the tub it is beneficial. If the day
be a cloudy one I take, instead of the sun bath, my breath-
ing exercises.

Twenty-five times I raise my arms slowly in front of me
until they are stretched straight and high over my head.
Then slowly I drop them agai^heavily, as though my hands
were of lead, at my sides. This at a distance of about three
feet from the open window. I am wrapped in a woolen
bathrobe. Always a woolen bathrobe.

Thus for the general treatment. Now for the local. I
sit in my dressing chair, which has a back reaching halfway
to my shoulders. If the back were higher it would prevent
a free movement of my body when I brush my hair or mas-
sage my face.

22

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

While I have been in the tub I have not washed my face.
It is now to have its first bath. The bath is still not a
liquid one. It is of cold cream. I give you here one of
my favorite recipes:

Rosewater, 500 grams ; oil of sweet almonds, 500 grams ;
white beeswax, 20 grams ; spermaceti, 20 grams ; oil of rose,
3 grams.

All these articles should be absolutely pure. If you do
not trust your druggist, send them to a chemist to be an-
alyzed. It is expensive, but it never pays to economize in
the complexion. Let me tell you how to prepare the cold
cream :

Place the beeswax and the spermaceti in a steamer. The
steamer should not be placed upon the stove, for the fire
would be too harsh for it and would taint the cream with
its odors. Place the steamer, instead, in a pan of hot water
and let the mixture be gently heated. With a long-handled
wooden spoon stir in slowly the oil of sweet almonds.
Drop the rosewater, little by little, into the mixture and stir
again. When it is thoroughly mixed, pour it into a stone
jar or a china vessel, and when it has cooled add three
drops of oil of rose. If you use the oil of rose before the
mixture has cooled, the perfume will evaporate.

You will have when you have done this an ounce less
than a pound, or fifteen ounces, of absolutely pure cold
cream, which will last for many months if not wasted.

I massage my face sitting before the mirror of my dress-
ing table. This, I have found, is far better than the lazy
way of massaging it while in a reclining position. I want
light for massage. I want a stream of it over my shoulder,
my left shoulder preferably, falling upon the mirror and
showing me any line that I might have acquired since the
morning before. Sitting there before the mirror I give
my face vigorous inspection. I mercilessly scrutinize it.
Wherever there is the slightest tracery upon the smooth

THE CARE OF THE COMPLEXION

23

surface, upon that spot I concentrate. I massage my face
for ten minutes, always keeping in mind the purpose of the
massage.

That is, that wrinkles are caused by defective circulation
in one spot, and that the way to remove them is to increase
the circulation in that spot. Sending a fresh supply of
blood to the sunken region will tend to fill out and plump it.

Therefore, I concentrate on the region from the corners
of the lips to the nostrils, that region where the ugly diag-
onal lines come and hint of ill temper or illness or old age ;
on the space between the eyebrows where the lines of worry
form; on the area about the outer corners of the eyes, an
area corrugated by too much laughter ; all these and the rest
of the face I massage by quick, light pats of the cushions
of the ends of the fingers — light, but firm.

Always with a motion round and round. A lengthwise
motion causes the muscles to sag and pulls the skin loose
from the muscles. It is very bad. After the rotary move-
ment I go over the face with quick, light, but stinging slaps.
With a square of thin, soft linen I remove any surplus of
grease that has not been absorbed in the pores.

For the skin that becomes overheated and looks feverish
after massage, this cooling, soothing lotion may be used :

Extract of violet, 350 grams ; extract of rose, 35 grams ;
tincture of orris, 80 grams.

Dashed upon the face after the morning massage, it is
deliciously cooling and refreshing. If you do not care for
the liquid face bath, fluffing daintily over the face a powder
puff dipped in rice powder is sufficient.

To the window I go, hand mirror in hand, for a further
inspection before applying the rice powder. I see, perhaps,
acne, a bit of what you in this country call “ blackhead,”
at the side of my nose. I hasten to remove it. How?
Not by pressing it out. No, no. That leaves an ugly hole
in the skin. It is a mutilation of the face. No; I search

24

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

for a match or a wooden toothpick. Then I take from my
toilet table one of two preparations — each is good:

Rosewater, y2 wineglass ; peroxide of hydrogen, y2 wine-
glass. Shake well in a glass. Dip the match into the mix-
ture and press the dampened end upon the blackhead. It
does not remove it, but cleanses its color to white.

Or I use this, which I think is milder:

Rosewater, 2-3 wineglass; ammonia, 1-3 wineglass.
Shake well together in a tumbler. Dip the end of the
toothpick or match in it and use as other preparation. Like
the other this cleanses without removing the acne.

If my plans for the day include a railway journey or an
automobile spin, I prepare my complexion for the ordeal.
Before going out I massage the face again with cold cream
and dust it once more with rice powder. This fortifies the
face for the whirlwind of smoke or dust it encounters.
When I return, to thoroughly cleanse the face, I steam it.
Into my stationary wash bowl I pour two quarts of boiling
water and one ounce of tincture of benzoin. I bend for-
ward and place my face as close to this as possible. I
wrap about my head a towel and swathe the towel — a
big, Turkish one — about my shoulders and the edge of the
bowl, so that no steam can escape. So I remain until I
feel that my face drips with perspiration and until I am
nearly suffocated by steam. Then, sitting up straight, I
dab one of the linen squares about my face and cool it by a
hand bath of eau de cologne.

Or, if the journey has been taken in summer, and I am
tanned or freckled in consequence, I apply this:

One wineglass full of rosewater; fifteen drops peroxide
of hydrogen.

I bathe the face with this preparation and leave it on the
skin for fifteen minutes, then remove it by massaging the
face with the cold cream for which I have given a pre-

THE CARE OF THE COMPLEXION 25

scription, or with rosewater. The peroxide is drastic, and
should only be used in emergencies.

And now the day is passed and I am ready to retire.
Again I think of my complexion. For the first time that
day I really wash my face.

First, it has its bath of soap and water. I use plenty of
soap, but make a lather of it in the bowl, instead of placing
it directly on my face. Plunging my hands into the soapy
water, I bathe my face with the palms of my hands.
Never do I use anything else. A sponge or a cloth is too
harsh. There is nothing softer than the palms of a woman’s
hands. They are softer than silk, and because they are
the softest objects I know I bathe the delicate skin of the
face with them. After the warm water face bath I rinse
the bowl and the face with cool, not cold, water. Cold water
is too severe.

Then, again, the ten minutes of massage, with the cold
cream. Then to bed. I feel that I have done for my com-
plexion the duty I owe it. I owe it but one more, to sleep
for eight hours in a room where the windows are as wide
open as possible, my bed being out of the draught and my-
self well covered with blankets, for to be cold is to commit
a crime against the complexion.

One other precaution I may take if the morning inspec-
tion has revealed that there are pimples on the face. It
is a remedy, most simple, but efficacious.

In the morning bath a handful of starch. Before retir-
ing a paste spread over the face and made thus :

One tumbler half full of water. The remainder filled
with starch. Stir to a thick paste.

Every woman who gives her complexion the right care
has to spend many hours at her dressing table. This
should be low, so that you can sit before it with comfort.
It should be wide, and long, and flat, so that it may hold

26

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

all of those accessories of the toilet which a woman wants
within reach as she sits before her mirror.

It should have a large mirror, and a good one, a just
mirror, but not a merciful one, that will reveal every
blemish, but will not exaggerate it. The faults of our faces
trouble us enough without being exaggerated by our mir-
rors. Money spent for a good mirror will yield you a good
return in honestly showing you how you look. If you
know exactly how you look, you can build upon that
foundation of knowledge a new and better appearance.

Being sure that your mirror is reliable place it where it
will have the best light in the room. This should be op-
posite, if possible, but certainly near to the window. The
best light for writing is the best light for dressing. The
light should fall over the left shoulder. Arrange your
electric lights, or candles, or lamps, or gas jets, whatever are
your lighting facilities, so that the light will fall in that
direction. Don’t dress by a poor light any more than you
would read or write by a poor light.

The mirror should be as large as possible and should be
adjustable. Attached to supports on the table it should be
easily swung back and forth, according to the angle of
view you wish to get upon yourself.

Even if the table be of the plainest sort, of home manu-
facture, the table and mirror frame should be white. The
effect of daintiness and cleanliness is given by a white
table and mirror frame. Spots and stains can be more
easily removed from it. Some young women have a fancy
for draping their dressing tables in muslin or silk tied back
with ribbons, or in silk finished by tassels of the same shade,
each to match the curtains at the windows and the dra-
peries of the bed. Personally I prefer the white painted or
enameled dressing table to any other. Draperies are ele-
gant, but besides their elegance I always see their other

THE, CARE OF THE COMPLEXION

27

significance — that of dust traps. In furnishing rooms I
try to put the money into rich woods and rugs, and shun
draperies.

If the owner’s means permit it a duplex or triple mirror is
better than a single one. I would allow the young woman
at her toilet literally to see herself as others see her. She
would study her profile and note whether her cheeks were
growing too plump or too thin. She could see whether the
line of her coiffure is as becoming to the sides as in front.
She could study her shoulders and learn whether they are
too lean and need fattening, or too fat and require thin-
ning. Having once dressed before a duplex or triple mirror
you will set about getting one.

But if yours is a good single mirror you can still make
your toilet very satisfactorily with the aid of a hand mirror.
This will in a little longer time enable you to scrutinize
your profile and back successively, instead of seeing all
three views of your head at once.

On most dressing tables we see a brush and comb. This
is the worst possible place for them. Perhaps they are
there merely for ornament, to complete a handsome ivory,
or silver, or gold set and give the spectator a sense of the
completeness of the table furnishings. But the comb and
brush that are in use should be carefully kept in a drawer
of the dressing table or in a toilet closet, or in one of the
medicine chests with which bathrooms are now supplied.
After using them, and before putting them away, be sure
to cleanse them. If you neglect this your combing and
brushing might almost as well not have been done, for the
dust in your hair has merely been shifted to your comb
and brush, and unless removed by cleansing, will be merely
transferred again to the hair.

A brush can be cleaned by rubbing it briskly upon a
towel. A comb can be wiped thus or with a piece of tissue

28

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

paper. But they should be dipped every fortnight at least
in soapy water, into which a teaspoonful of ammonia has
been sprinkled.

The toilet table should be furnished also with a tray or
box containing the manicure utensils. The orange wood
stick should be ready for cleansing the nails and pushing
back the skin that is anxious to encroach upon the nails.
In a drawer there should be a package of medicated cotton.
In a flask on the toilet table there should be a little peroxide
of hydrogen. This not to “ touch up the hair,” but to serve
two worthier purposes. The orange wood stick wrapped
round with a bit of the cotton and dipped into the peroxide
— or better, the peroxide poured upon it — will quickly
cleanse the end of the nail that has been darkened by dust.
The peroxide is also valuable for a gargle, or to give the
mouth one of the frequently necessary baths.

In one of the little silver or ivory or enameled boxes,
of which a toilet table cannot have too many, there should
be a little powdered pumice stone. When the daily scrunity
reveals dark stains upon or between the teeth, apply this
pumice stone by dipping an orange wood stick or a hard
round toothpick into it and gently rubbing with them the
stained surface. Never use a toothpick for this purpose,
for this would scratch the tooth and erode the enamel.

One of the toilet bottles on my dressing table I always
keep filled with rosewater. This is soothing when the face
is fevered, and is always grateful and healing to the skin.
In another bottle I keep a strong toilet vinegar to inhale
or to sprinkle about my neck to revive me when I am
fatigued. This vinegar beauties of the time of Louis XV
used to brighten their complexions by sprinkling it upon
their faces when they were fatigued or indisposed. It is
composed of :

Honey, 6 ounces ; vinegar made of white wine, i quart ;
isinglass, 3 drams ; nutmeg, ^2 ounce ; shredded red sandal-

THE CARE OF THE COMPLEXION

29

wood, 1 dram. Place all these in a bain marie and allow the
mixture to simmer, but not boil, for a half-hour. Cool, and
strain through silk or cheesecloth. It is well to use this
lotion after giving the face a bath of cream or of warm
water. It is an excellent preparation for an evening toilet,
but is too strong to leave on the skin over night.

This also is agreeable:

Rosewater, 1 quart ; tincture of opopanax, 20 grams ; tinc-
ture of benzoin, 20 grams; tincture of myrrh, 20 grams;
essence of lemon, 8 grams.

In one of the little boxes I keep also these pastilles to
freshen the mouth that has grown feverish :

Pulverized licorice, 7 drams ; vanilla sugar, 3 drams ; gum
Arabic, 5 drams.

This, if there be a tendency to sores in the membranes
of the mouth, will allay them and purify the mouth :

Oxide of zinc, 60 grains; spermaceti ointment, 1 ounce;
attar of rose, 2 drops.

A powder box or jar should always be kept tightly closed
to keep out intruding dust that might easily slip beneath
a carelessly placed lid. This powder, recommended by the
famous Dr. Vaucaire, is admirable:

Rice flour, 3 ounces ; rice starch, 3 ounces ; carbonate of
magnesia, ij4 ounces; powdered boric acid, 54 ounce; orris
root, ounce; essence of bergamot, 15 drops; essence of
citron, 8 drops.

No toilet table is complete without a nasal atomizer to
be used night and morning, if you desire, but certainly
whenever a cold approaches or is in progress. This should
be filled with strong salt water or borax water in the pro-
portions of:

Water, 2 ounces ; borax, y2 ounce.

Your dressing table should be supplied with the creams
and other remedies which personal experience has taught
you are best suited for your skin. One of my favorite

30

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

face creams was the invention of the famous Queen Eliza-
beth of Hungary. It is made like this:

Oil of rosemary, y2 ounce ; oil of lavender, 2 drams ; oil
of petit grain, 30 drops; tincture of tolu, 4 drams; orange
flower water, y2 pint; rectified spirits of wine, y2 pint.

Mme. Sarah Bernhardt long used this skin tonic. It
was adapted to that wonderfully preserved woman’s natur-
ally moist and oily skin. For a skin that is dry and inclined
to eruptive blemishes it might prove irritating. It was
composed of:

Boiling water, 1 quart; sea salt, 5 ounces; alcohol, J4
pint; spirits of camphor, 2 ounces; spirits of ammonia, 2
ounces.

This, used by the beauties of the deposed Sultan’s harem,
gave a complexion said to be the most beautiful in Europe :

Sweet almond oil, 4 ounces ; white wax, 320 grains ; sper-
maceti, 320 grains ; powdered benzoin, 100 grains ; tincture
of ambergris, 60 grains; pulverized rice, 320 grains.

Adelina Patti, whose complexion has survived her voice,
was long presumed, because of someone’s misquotation of
her words, to never use soap. The truth is, as I very well
know, that she used a mild soap every night to wash
her face before retiring. She insists that her face could
not be really clean without it. During the day she cleanses
it from dust by the use of any pure cold cream that is
available.

Mrs. Langtry, too, is an advocate of soap for the com-
plexion. A pure, simple soap she uses at least once a day,
sometimes oftener.

Turkish women believe in the free use of soap. It was
a princess, wife of the physician of the present Sultan,
who gave me this recipe for a soap that will cleanse and
soften and whiten the skin. The women of the harem re-
gard it as the first aid to a beautiful complexion :

Shave very fine one pound of white olive (Castile) soap.

THE CARE OF THE COMPLEXION

3i

Place in a porcelain kettle, covering it with cold water.
When the soap has been softened by the heat and mixed
with the water stir into it one-half pound of oatmeal. Mix
this well. When thoroughly blended take it off the stove
and when the mixture has cooled, form with the hands
soap balls as large as a walnut. Or the soap can be used
warm in its liquid state.

This face lotion is a favorite of the harem:

Juice of 3 lemons ; glycerine, 50 grams ; cologne water, 10
grams.

Egyptian women believe that the face should be bathed
three times a day with hot water. The Chinese women,
singularly, produce the same effect of a smooth skin by the
use of cold face baths. The American habit of cleansing
the face simply by cold cream had its origin in India, where
women cleanse the face with vegetable oils.

A princess of the Khedive’s court in Egypt told me that
hot water ablutions, followed by an application of this
liquid, would keep any skin fair and smooth. Certainly
the clear brown of her complexion was a recommendation
of the habit. The recipe is this:

Rose water, 100 grams; tincture of benzoin, 10 grams.

The women of China, Turkey and Egypt have faith in
the efficacy of the juice of the beet. While in all those
countries it is used as a paint many of the women have
told me that they bathe their faces in it for the tonic effect
of what they term the blood of the beet. They then re-
move the stain with tepid water.

Dust is one of the worst enemies of beauty. It settles
in a dim, dingy veil upon the face, causing it to look ill
kept, in a word, dirty.

To keep the face cleansed from dust keep always a bottle
of olive oil and a companion bottle of witch hazel on your
dressing table or toilet shelf.

Before going out pass a bit of cotton or a piece of soft

32

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

linen that has been moistened in the oil over the face.
Protect the face further by dusting it with rice powder.

Returning from out of doors remove the powder and
dust by washing the face with yet more olive oil applied in
the same way. The danger of the olive oil turning the
skin yellow — for that fear exists in many minds influenced
by the adage “ Yellow makes yellow ” — can be removed
by adding to two ounces of olive oil, one half ounce of
almond oil and twenty drops of tincture of benzoin. Be-
fore retiring the face should have another of these oil baths,
unless you prefer to use the cold cream which is more un-
wieldy and so less quickly cleanses.

Strong salt water or a mixture of bicarbonate of soda in
the proportions of a teaspoon ful of bicarbonate of soda to a
glassful of water, are admirable throat cleansers.

To keep the nails guiltless of the gray or black rim that
so offends the sight, it is not enough to wrap cotton about
the point of an orange stick and remove the accumulated
dust. The hands must be washed often, even though not
soiled, to remove the dust from beneath the nails. And if
the nails have become ragged beneath the edge, which causes
the dust to thickly and obstinately collect there, thrust them
into soap jelly into which you have poured a half dozen
drops of ammonia, or into a cake of soap well softened by
lying in the water and allow this to remain under the nails
for a few minutes to do the work of cleansing.

Perhaps the skin of your face is very pale, as though
every drop of blood had been drained from it, and the fact
that your stock of vigor is below par is shown by the dry
texture and loose condition of your skin.

Refresh it by giving it a cologne bath. Pour a few drops
of cologne over a piece of gauze and pat the face lightly
with it. This will coax the blood quickly to the surface.
Or soak a square piece of flannel in olive oil and place it

THE CARE OF THE COMPLEXION

33

over the face. The skin absorbs this oil, and in a short
time looks much fresher.

Should you, despite your tired, bloodless aspect, have to
be seen in public, bathe the face in tepid water, using hand-
fuls of almond meal, wet with a few drops of benzoin in-
stead of soap. Then dash cold water upon the face. This
soon calls back the color that has forsaken the visage.

Many Englishwomen follow the sensible practice of “ giv-
ing the face a drink.” For proof of the efficacy of this
carry to your bathroom a drooping, dying plant. Turn
upon it with the rubber spray a shower of cool water. In-
stantly the fainting plant revives.

Just as grateful as was this plant for its needed draught is
the skin that is parched, in the first stage of the dreaded,
withering process, for its “ drink.” The English woman
closes her eyes, holds her breath and thrusts her face deep
into a bowl of cool water. She keeps it thus submerged as
long as she is able. Then, raising her head, she breathes
deeply and again thrusts her face into the water. She re-
peats this face drink five or six times, keeping her face in
the water as long as her suspended breath will permit.
Wiping the moisture off with a soft cloth, she is amazed
to see the response of her complexion to the treatment.
Her skin seems transformed from a brownish white parch-
ment, crossed and criss-crossed by the faint etchings that
portend wrinkles, to a smooth pink and white silken surface.

Your skin should be one of the livest things in your en-
tire makeup, yet it is that part of you which oftenest looks
lifeless. A “ dead ” skin, as specialists know it, is pale and
withered looking. It is seamed with fine lines and looks ab-
solutely devoid of moisture.

There are many methods of remedying this regrettable
appearance, which adds many years to a woman’s apparent
age, and which must, by some means, be avoided.

34

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

The fundamental remedy is a change of diet. A father’s
advice in a recent play, “ Eat two apples and drink a glass
of water before going to bed ” was laughed at as old-
fashioned, yet there is no better beauty rule, having the skin
in mind. It gives nature prompt and powerful aid in cleans-
ing the interior of our bodies, and without this unclogged
interior there can be no clear, live skin. A mottled, pim-
pled skin is an infallible sign of an unclean interior.

But the apples eaten at night are not enough. Drink
lemon juice slightly diluted with water in the morning.
The juice of an entire lemon pressed into the glass and
diluted with the same quantity of water will cleanse the
stomach and aid in clearing the skin.

A remedy for a dead looking mottled skin is a teaspoon-
ful of grape juice with the same quantity of olive oil night
and morning.

A French remedy for a faded skin is to eat a small plate-
ful of water cress with salt every day. The beauties of
the harems of Constantinople rely upon any green salad
eaten at breakfast with much salt for the same purpose.

Sometimes these internal remedies must be supplemented
by external aids. One of the best is to moisten coarse
cornmeal with milk and, filling the hands with it, scrub the
face gently yet with vigor. The friction opens the pores
and relieves the muddy looking skin of the poison which
has choked them.

A woman whose skin at fifty is as fresh as a girl’s told
me that she would as lief retire without saying her prayers
as without ironing her face with ice. This causes the
blood to flow to the surface, refreshing and feeding the
skin.

Cold cream is needful for most complexions but not for
every one. A good test of your needs is to pat cold
cream into the skin and note whether it quickly absorbs it.
If so the skin is hungry and requires daily feeding.

THE CARE OF THE COMPLEXION

35

Cocoanut oil, if secured in its purest state is an admirable
skin food. Olive oil feeds the skin well but there is a deep
rooted objection to its too frequent use because it is charged
with making the skin yellow. The owner of one of the
best complexions I know, a lovely French woman, feeds
her skin by nightly baths of the following :

Olive oil, 3 ounces; almond oil, J4 ounce; benzoin, J/2
ounce.

In this case the olive oil’s tendency to make the skin yel-
low, if such a tendency lies in this greatly remedial oil, is
neutralized by the presence of the benzoin, which is a
whitener. The benzoin has still another office useful
to those whose skins have become flabby. It is an astrin-
gent drawing the relaxed skin up into the desired tight-
ness.

Primarily the cause of most facial blemishes is indigestion.
To remove an effect, one should always try first to remove
the cause. Most women have some form of indigestion,
and it is due to one or both of two bad habits. One is
eating harmful things. The other is not drinking enough
water.

Here are ten things I beg women never to eat : Sausages,

dried fish, pies, bonbons, puddings, ice cream, beef, except
when well roasted, pork, especially ham, oysters, unless one
is absolutely certain of their freshness, hot bread, as
usually made in America. I am opposed to the practice of
drinking hot water. Instead of being an aid to digestion,
it is a hindrance. Granted after a heavy dinner, when the
sense of overfulness oppresses us, a cup of hot water,
slowly sipped, aids digestion. But this should be used only
in emergencies. The regular habit of drinking a great
deal of hot water is harmful, for when the stomach is
flooded with it the gastric juices go on strike. Finding the
intruders there they refuse to do their work and retire.
And the hot water is left to do the work, ineffectively and

36 MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

alone. So the hot-water habit seems to me a distinctly bad
one.

■Light foods, as chicken, fresh fish, beans, spinach and
beets, containing iron, and stewed fruit, slowly eaten and
well masticated, are excellent for the complexion.

Three quarts of water a day should be drunk to keep one
well, which state a good complexion always follows. Drink
three tumblerfuls on rising, and while you are about your
morning toilet. Sip, do not gulp, it. If you are not thirsty,
drink it anyway. That morning bath for the stomach is
imperative. At each meal it is permissible to drink one
glass of water, slowly sipping it.

For the work of cleansing the stomach I should advise a
half teaspoonful of soda taken in a wine glass of water
every morning. If the disorder is very pronounced I should
repeat the dose after each meal for three or four days.
Bicarbonate of soda, like other good things, may become a
bad thing if used in excess. I am grateful to the Paris
pharmacist who gave me this warning.

Pulverized charcoal is also an excellent corrective for
the stomach which is tired or rebellious. One teaspoon ful
every morning and one after each meal is as good as a
broom in the stomach.

Large, red splotches appear upon the face sometimes,
seeming to try to burn their way out. This literally they
are trying to do. An excess of uric acid causes this con-
dition, and it is best to consult a physician about a cure,
for it is the parent of rheumatism. If a consultation is not
convenient, then diet, diet, diet.

Eat no more fruit in the morning. Eat it only at noon
and night. Let the breakfast be most simple, of some
coarse cereal, or crusts of coarse bread; and avoid rare
meats, especially beef.

But a beauty complains that there are spots on her face
and yet she must shine at a ball to-morrow. There is no

THE CARE OF THE COMPLEXION

37

time for diet, for consulting a physician, for any of the
thorough roads by which one arrives at the goal of a good
complexion. What she does must be quickly done.

Very well, then. A pimple mars the curve of her lovely
chin. What shall be done? Use acetone.

Acetone is a colorless, ethereal liquid. It has been used
chiefly to dissolve fat and resins. It is effective for
asthma. Under the form of a fifty per cent, solution, with
two per cent, of iodide of potassium, it has been much used
in hay fever and similar irritable conditions of the respira-
tory tract.

Into a one-ounce bottle of acetone dip the wooden end of
a match and press it upon the pimple. Then with a silk
sponge or bit of absorbent cotton saturated with alcohol
press the spot to disinfect it and neutralize the ace-
tone.

Another of the hasty remedies which I would recommend
is:

White zinc, I ounce; a pure cold cream, i ounce. Mix
these thoroughly together and apply with a bit of cotton
cloth to the pimple.

For blackheads, I have successfully used an entire face
bath of a four per cent, solution of borax, wiping it off
soon after and giving it a second bath of rosewater to
soften the skin.

An ointment prescribed by a great French physician,
whose specialty was treatment of the skin, is made up of the
following ingredients:

Ergotine, 3 grams; oxide of zinc, 7 grams; vaseline, 30
grams.

Another that is quickly efficacious is:

Precipitate of sulphur, 1 dram; tincture of camphor, 1
dram; glycerine, 1 dram; rosewater, 4 ounces.

A third, that is more agreeable in its action than the last,
consists of;

38

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

Bicarbonate of soda, 36 grains ; distilled water, 8 ounces ;
essence of roses, 6 drops.

I have seen pimples removed by a half dozen applications
of bicarbonate of soda, dampened slightly, and placed with
the tip of the finger upon the irritated surface.

Another simple remedy for splotches or pimples is this:

Bicarbonate of soda, 36 grains ; glycerine, 1 dram ; sper-
maceti ointment, I ounce.

This should be applied with absorbent cotton, allowed to
remain on the affected part for a quarter of an hour, and
removed.

For the blotched condition of the skin, which is caused
by sun in summer and wind in winter, if the skin be delicate,
I recommend this:

Borax, y2 dram; glycerine, 1 ounce; elder flower water,
7 ounces.

Steaming is often recommended for cleansing the face.
I do not use it because I think its tendency is to make the
skin too delicate, to detach it from the muscles and to cause
premature wrinkles.

I am often asked how to remove moles. I answer, “ Do
not remove them. In the time of Marie Antoinette they
were regarded as marks of beauty. Let them alone.,, But
if anyone insists, I say then go to a physician and be by
him guided. Probably he will remove them by electricity,
but I am afraid — afraid.

Indigestion is the great foe to the complexion within.
The foe to be feared without is the careless use of powders.
Powder judiciously used, especially at night, is an aid to
beauty. Its use in the evening is an indication of refine-
ment. And a dainty powder fluffed upon the face before
going out, especially if cold cream has first been applied, is
an excellent protection from the cold or heat or from a
high wind. But it is absolutely necessary that the powder
be pure. Rice powder is harmless to the skin. It pro-

THE CARE OF THE COMPLEXION

39

tects the complexion as would a fine veil. And it removes
the disgreeable “ shine ” upon the skin that makes the best-
groomed woman look vulgar at night.

This powder I have found most valuable:

Rice flour, 6 ounces ; rice starch, 6 ounces ; carbonate of
magnesia, 3 ounces; boric acid, i]/2 ounces; powdered orris
root, iy2 drams; essence of bergamot, 10 drops; essence
of citron, 15 drops.

CHAPTER II

HOW TO MAKE YOUR NECK BEAUTIFUL

IT is a most decided advantage to be born with a beauti-
ful neck, as it is to be born with beautiful features, a
beautiful figure or beautiful hair. It is one of the compen-
sations of being overplump that the woman of too ample
lines has a beautiful throat and arms. While the thin
woman, whose features are well defined, not being blanketed
by superfluous layers of flesh, and whose figure is more ele-
gant because not swathed by adipose tissue, has, as a rule, a
scrawny neck and whip-like arms.

The neck to be beautiful must be neither too long nor
too short, too fat nor too lean. It must be shapely; that
is, evenly developed. The skin must be soft and white.

The length of the neck is one of the fixed quantities of
nature. One cannot change it, but we can learn the lesson
of illusion from the stage, and try to make it seem longer
or shorter than it is. The best aid to this is the poise of the
head. The woman whose chin is carried well up, whose
poise of the head is habitually high, gives the impression
that her neck is at least an inch longer than it is. Also
the manner of the trimming of her high-neck gown and
the line at which the low-cut gown is finished determine
whether the neck looks longer than it is or shorter.

If the neck is short the collar should be of solid colors
or be trimmed with perpendicular lines. The low-necked
gown should be cut lower than that of the woman with the
long neck, for the neck is more dependent upon its sur-
roundings for its effect than is any other part of the body.
40

TO MAKE YOUR NECK BEAUTIFUL

4i

If there is a wide sweep of the shoulders the long line from
the point of the shoulder to the chin will lend itself to the
neck and make the neck seem longer than it would if the
gown were merely one of the collarless sort with a line of
cloth defining where the neck actually begins.

If the neck is long the problem is an easier one, especially
at times when much dressing for the neck is in vogue.
Even an ostrich’s neck could be so wrapped about with
laces, with collars and ties of a contrasting color which
would cut the apparent length, that it would be far less con-
spicuous than unadorned. I should say it could be made to
look a foot shorter. The human neck can be dressed to
make a proportionate change of appearance. The ex-
tremely low decolletage is less becoming to the woman with
the long neck. If she must adopt it, or thinks she must,
she should wear her jewels or a band of ribbon about her
neck to make her neck seem shorter. The drooping Ma-
donna poise of the head may be becomingly afifected by the
woman with the long neck, especially when sitting for her
photographs.

The neck, I have before said, must be neither too fat
nor too lean. To correct either too much or too little flesh
upon the neck we must summon the aid of that lieutenant
to beauty, massage. On the beautiful neck the flesh
is evenly distributed. The neck should be, save for the
two parallel lines about an inch apart which encircle
the neck and are seen on the necks even of babes,
perfectly smooth. If the flesh be uneven, persistent, skill-
ful and gentle massage should redistribute the disproportion-
ate bulk of flesh.

There is always a possibility that the neck will be flat in
front and display thick layers of fat at the sides and back.
This can be corrected by patient and careful massage. The
front of the neck should be made plumper by massage.
Olive oil or a pure cold cream should be freely rubbed into

42

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

the skin by the first three fingers of each hand, massaging
first on the right side of the neck with the right hand, then
on the left with the left hand, then with both hands to-
gether. The motion should be a rotary one, always the best
movement for rebuilding tissue because it induces circula-
tion, which feeds the starved, atrophied portions.

To reduce the bulk of the back and side of the neck a
reducing lotion should be applied by long, sweeping, down-
ward strokes, the effect of which strokes is to melt the flesh
downward into the larger masses of flesh on the shoulders.
A lotion I have known to be used with success for the
melting away of too ponderous flesh about the neck is
this:

Tincture of iodine, 30 minims; iodide of potassium, 60
grains; hyposulphite of soda, 20 grains; distilled water, 7
ounces ; aniseed water, 170 minims.

Be careful not to tamper with and so enlarge the large
glands in the neck. Enlarging them may permanently dis-
figure a beautiful neck. They are the danger points of the
manipulation. It is they and the gorged veins that give to
a neck that aged, withered appearance which we describe
by the word “ ropey.” Once these glands are enlarged and
the veins swollen there is no art in beauty lore to diminish
them. Perhaps a physician can reduce their size, but I have
never known it to be achieved.

For the “ aged neck ” there is almost no hope. Mme.
Sarah Bernhardt realized this, and while combating all the
other signs of her increasing years, yielded to the demands
of the neck that was no longer young, and covered it. The
collarless gown is not for her. Always she wears a high-
necked gown, or, if circumstances require, a costume de-
collete, she wears a ribbon of velvet or a collar of jewels
about her throat.

For battling against the ageing neck I can give no better

TO MAKE YOUR NECK BEAUTIFUL 43

recipe than this for a massage cream, which should be
plentifully applied night and morning:

Glycerine, 5 ounces ; mutton tallow, 1 pound ; tincture of
benzoin, 2 drams; spirits of camphor, 1 dram; powdered
alum, Yi dram; orange flower water, 1 dram; Russian
isinglass, 2 ounces.

If the neck is thin, but the veins and glands are not en-
larged, there is hope. The skin must be fed by cold creams
and the circulation promoted by massage. The rotary mo-
tion with the first three fingers of each hand is the de-
sirable one. Fifteen minutes should be spent night and
morning in this massage. One nourishing massage cream
especially excellent for the neck is this :

Oil of sweet almonds, 10 grams; lanolin, 15 grams;
tannin, y2 gram.

A successful fattening cream for the neck contains :

Alcohol (95 per cent.), 20 grams; lard or cocoa butter,
100 grams; essence of rosemary, 12 drops; essence of ber-
gamot, 12 drops.

A third and most important essential is that the skin of
the neck be white and soft. To secure this effect one must,
as you say in America, “ start right.” First prevent stains
upon the neck.

A stained neck is always a revolting sight. A dark,
shadowy rim about the neck may have been caused by dark
collars and there may have been valiant efforts to remove it,
but if they have not been successful I beseech you wear only
high-necked collars until the stain is removed. The casual
observer at a dinner or a ball will make no allowance for the
cause, the stain-communicating collar of colored net or some
other fabric. To him your neck will be soiled. That is all
and that is very much.

To prevent such stains avoid wearing dark colors next to
the neck. If the dark collar is unavoidable then line it with

44 MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

something soft and white, old muslin or part of an old silk
handkerchief.

But, having acquired the dark, shadowy look about the
neck that is so repellent remove it as soon as possible. A
thorough sponging with peroxide of hydrogen, full strength,
followed immediately by another bath of rose water, I have
found excellent.

Or there may be frequent baths with this preparation,
which is admirable for bleaching:

Glycerine, i ounce; rosewater, i ounce; carbolic acid, io
drops; tincture of benzoin, io drops.

This home remedy is useful when less drastic remedies
are not at hand:

One-half lemon; one small tumbler of water. Squeeze
the lemon juice into the glass. Bathe the neck frequently
with the mixture.

For those, and there are many, among them experts, who
do not wish to use the peroxide of hydrogen full strength,
I would recommend:

Peroxide of hydrogen, y2 wineglass ; witchhazel, y2
wineglass.

To bleach a neck that is too oily this used once a day for
three successive days is helpful:

Rosewater, y2 wineglass; ammonia, 5 drops. Use this
sparingly, for the action of ammonia upon the skin is to
make it exceedingly dry.

The woman who would have a beautiful neck must con-
sider it even in repose. She should never use a high pillow,
preferably no pillow at all. For when the head rests upon
the pillow, the chin falls upon the breast. The muscles of
the neck are contracted, wrinkles are formed and muscles
become flabby. Lying on the back is the best posture for
sleeping. The muscles of the neck are thus given full play
and rest.

Many times I am asked “ If you had a mole on the neck

TO MAKE YOUR NECK BEAUTIFUL 45

what would you do ? *' I would let it remain there, and be
thankful that I had a distinguishing mark, a beauty spot.
But if you insist upon removing it a physician might try
electricity.

I have been asked how to remove superfluous hair from
the neck. I should not remove it, for I should not regard
it as superfluous. Why do American women so dislike hair
upon the face and neck? There should be a fine covering
of hair. It is beautiful. It is like down upon the peach.

Sometimes the collar supporter, or a pin or hook used
for fastening the collar, scratches the neck. For these or
any other bruises of the neck I should first bathe the in-
jured part with absorbent cotton dipped into peroxide of
hydrogen. If the bruise is severe I would apply collodion
or court plaster to protect it from air-floating germs, while
healing. I would remove these by moistening them with al-
cohol. If this precaution is not taken a bit of the skin or
flesh might adhere to the application, so causing a scar.
When the new skin is formed, covering the wound, and it
is no longer very sensitive, I would massage it gently once
a day. This relieves the congestion and gradually removes
the disfiguring red line that might remain as a trophy of the
adventure.

A traveling companion of mine once scraped her neck
against a deck railing while the ship tossed. She treated it
as I have advised and when there still remained a broad pink
stain as a souvenir of the accident she massaged it very
lightly every day for a fortnight, when the pink stain utterly
disappeared.

If your neck is suffering from wearing a too high collar I
recommend one of the following recipes:

Equal parts of peroxide of hydrogen and water. In ex-
treme cases there is no objection to a neck bath of pure
peroxide of hydrogen.

Equal parts of alcohol (95 per cent.) and water.

46

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

Equal parts of lemon juice and water.

Water, y2 pint; ammonia, I dram.

Still another remedy is to scrub the neck with a soft com-
plexion brush dipped into a warm lather of Castile soap with
a few drops of ammonia added.

In summer when the neck becomes tanned and blistered
by the sun massage it with a pure, cold cream and bathe it
frequently with a mild solution of peroxide of hydrogen.

CHAPTER III

THINGS TO DO FOR THE EYES, EARS AND NOSE

AS with all other parts of the body, the beauty of the
eyes depends upon their health, and their health de-
pends upon care. The eyes have two arch enemies. They
are fatigue and dust. To keep the eyes beautiful one must
avoid the one and shun the other.

Do not read too much. I never read at night. Artificial
light destroys the luster of the eyes. At night we con-
stantly strain the eyes to get more light, and the strain
makes a network of fine lines about the eyes. Never read
on the train, no matter how long the journey. It is five
days from New York to San Francisco, and many persons
make that journey several times a year. But if they have
regard for the beauty of their eyes they take no magazines
or books on the train with them and they buy none on the
way. It is quite as good a mental exercise to spend the
time on a railroad journey thinking of what you have read,
and of what you have learned in reading the book of life,
as to read something new, and it is a thousand times better
for the eyes. At its best a railway journey is a severe tax
upon the eyes as upon the nerves and the complexion. I
spend as much of the time as possible in a reclining posi-
tion with my eyes closed.

When the journey is at its end I send at once for a solu-
tion of adrenalin. The proportions and quantity of the
solution I always leave to the druggist. I would not take
the responsibility of prescribing the amount for myself, and
so will not for another. Adrenalin is derived from the
47

48

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

supra-renal glands of animals. A solution of it applied
frequently to the eyes rests them after a severe strain. I
know of nothing more refreshing and immediately rejuvenat-
ing, but I insist that it must be used only after a physician
has prescribed, or by the advice of the pharmacist, who will
tell you what under the circumstances is a safe solution.

I said I do not read too much. An hour and a half a
day, and that at two or three sittings, instead of con-
tinuously, is enough. Close study of a printed page is dan-
gerous to the eyes and to other attractive features of a
woman’s face.

For the sake of the beauty of the eyes — and there is no
greater beauty — I utter now a different warning. If you
would have beautiful eyes don’t drink too much. A glass
and a half of wine at a meal is enough. A pint of wine a
day is all that any woman who wishes to be beautiful should
permit herself, and that only if she has been accustomed to
drinking wine. Too much drinking makes the eyes blood-
shot. It congests the blood vessels in them, causing dis-
figuring little red streaks in the whites of the eyes. It causes
also a congested condition that inflames the lining of the
lids.

When the eyes are tired the thing to do is to rest. Go
to your room. Loosen your clothes. Lie upon your back
and place upon your eyes a hot compress. Make the com-
press in this way:

One gill rosewater ; one gill witch hazel. Heat this mix-
ture and when it is nearly at the boiling point dip into it a
bandage of soft linen, or of absorbent cotton, and press this
upon the eyes.

Sometimes a friend of mine points to her yellow eyeballs
and says : “ What shall I do to make them white ? ” I

answer : “ You are bilious. You must cleanse the liver

and the stomach. A physician or a pharmacist can best
tell you how to do this. But if you do not wish to go to

FOR THE EYES, EARS AND NOSE

49

either try a semi-fast. Eat only half as much at each meal
as you have been doing, and drink water freely. We need
three quarts of water a day to keep the body in health. If
the system has reached such a condition that the eyeballs
are yellow then that quantity should be increased by one-
half. Water drinking is a necessity that should become a
fixed habit.

Every morning at rising we should drink at least two
glassfuls of cold, but not ice water. If the stomach is very
delicate it would be better that the water were warm. If
cold it should be sipped, not tossed off at a draught, because
by the time it reaches the stomach it should be as warm
as the lining of the stomach itself, to prevent chilling that
important organ. Throughout the day a good deal could
be drunk and the remainder should be drunk in a leisurely
way at night. It is well under the most ordinary cir-
cumstances to drink two or three glasses of water before
retiring. For the woman with the yellow eyeballs a half
teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda or of pulverized charcoal
could be taken to advantage in a glass of the water at morn-
ing or night. Also I should advise for this woman exercise
out of doors.

For the daily care of the eyes there should be two baths.
The body must have its bath. The face must have its cleans-
ing. Why not the eye, especially as the eye, with its thick
lid and the fringe of eyelashes, is a dust trap, and the
slightest speck of dust allowed to remain beneath the lid
may cause inflammation of the lid and irritation of the eye.

For the eye’s daily bath I offer you the choice of several
lotions. My favorite is:

Ten ounces purest rosewater. Apply with an eyecup,
turning the eyecup upside down so that the half open eye
is completely washed by the contents of the cup. Hold it
thus for thirty seconds, or, if not uncomfortable, a full
minute. Throw away this rosewater. Rinse the glass and

50

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

give the eye a second bath. If the eyes are irritated the
bath can be repeated several times. Ordinarily a bath in
the morning on rising and another at night on retiring are
enough.

One ounce elderflower water. Some of my friends who
have beautiful eyes prefer this to rosewater. It is equally
good. Apply it in the same way.

Another excellent eyebath is:

One-half ounce witch hazel ; one-half ounce distilled
water. Shake well in bottle and apply with an eyecup.

One other bath is excellent:

Six drops boracic acid; one wineglass distilled water.
Shake well before applying.

Salt has its advocates. Certainly salt is stimulating to
tired eyes, but I would only use it in emergencies. Then
once a day, before retiring as follows:

A pinch of salt in an eyecup of cold water. Use with
the eyecup. Also bathe the lids with a bit of cotton dipped
into the salt water.

A bath of borax water is beneficial and has the ad-
vantage of always being convenient. Even while traveling
one may carry a box of borax. Futhermore, it is safe, be-
cause borax will only form a four per cent, solution, that is,
four per cent, of it only will be absorbed by water. A
borax bath is strengthening. If the eyes be delicate or the
person so prejudiced against experiments that she is not
willing to introduce this substance into the eyes, 3. silk sponge
or a soft cloth dipped into borax water and pressed upon
the eyelids is efficacious, soothing.

The old fashioned home remedy of cold tea leaves pressed
upon the lids has value, not from the tea leaves intrinsically,
but from the cool, moist contact. Cloths dipped in water are
quite as good.

Whatever reduces the fever and inflammation in eyelids
makes for the beauty of the eyes. And here a word of

FOR THE EYES, EARS AND NOSE

5i

warning. If the lids become granular, that is, if tiny lumps
form inside the lining of the eyelid, don’t attempt to cure
them yourself. Give yourself over to a physician’s care.

There is nothing more disfiguring or dangerous to the
eyes than these irritating little lumps. They are caused
by eye strain and if the strain be removed the granules are
likely to disappear. If, however, the case is far advanced
it needs medical treatment.

As the greatest enemy of the beauty of the eyes is strain,
so the greatest friend is rest. If my eyes were losing their
brightness I should first of all rest. But rest may be taken,
to use the druggist’s phrase, “ in small doses.” If I am too
much engaged to go into a dark room and rest for days I can
at least rest my eyes by taking extra sleep. From the stand-
point of beauty every one should retire before twelve, to
give the eyes sufficient rest.

And there are twenty chances a day to close the eyes for
a few minutes. Say five minutes at a time, and twenty
times. There we have one hundred minutes. Those
chances can be taken on the Subway, the “ L ” trains or in
the surface cars. Often have I seen a man on a train ad-
mire a young woman for the demure, downcast glance of her
eye. He thinks that is one of her individual lures. Silly
man. The girl doesn’t know he exists. She is merely tak-
ing an eye rest. When you are bathing your face, when
you are massaging it, when you are brushing your hair,
while you are being manicured or pedicured — there are
countless opportunities to give the eyes the rest they need.
Try it for three days and the results will amaze you.

Never use preparations in or upon the eyes, unless you
have them analyzed. Do not count the cost of analysis.
What are a few American dollars or French francs or
Italian lire compared with beauty !

Never use any toilet article without such analysis. And
even after you have used the preparation for a time it is

52

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

wise to again submit it to another analysis, for when an
article has secured its vogue through excellence I am sorry
to say that manufacturers oftentimes increase their profits
by cheapening the ingredients and adulterating the article.

The surroundings of the eyes are as important as the eyes
themselves. Keep lines away from the eyes by keeping them
well rested. Also massage lightly about them for four or
five minutes. Never longer, because too much massage will
tire the exceedingly delicate muscles about the eyes and
cause them to sag. Massage them at retiring with any good
cold cream.

Rub with light rotary motion, with the tips of the second
and third fingers, outward and away from the corners of
the eyes. With the same fingers stroke the muscles that
lie along the upper edge of the cheekbone. The stroke
should be a slow, sweeping one from the lower corner of
the eye to the edge of the hair line. Never touch the soft,
flabby skin beneath the eyes. It will make wrinkles. A
third, valuable stroke is above and along the upper edge of
the eyebrows. It is most soothing and restful.

The eyelashes depend for their length and beauty upon
the condition of the eyelids. Do not allow them to become
inflamed. If they are irritated the lashes will be weakened
and will stop growing, or will fall out. To make them
grow long and evenly they should be clipped two or three
times a year.

If the eyelashes grow thin or unevenly it may be because
the eyes are strained and the lids inflamed. To remedy
such a condition I recommend either of the following
prescriptions :

Rosewater, 1-3 glass; witch hazel, J4 glass. Warm and
apply by opening the eye when covered by the glassful of
the mixture, thus giving the eye a thorough bath.

Camphor water, 1 ounce ; powdered borax, 3 grains ; in-
fusion of sassafras-pith, 2 ounces. Apply with an eye-

FOR THE EYES, EARS AND NOSE

53

dropper, the glass tube with rubber bulb that can be ob-
tained in any drug store. Apply as frequently as is needed
to allay the inflammation.

The growth of the eyelashes can also be promoted by
frequent brushing with an eyelash brush, also by carefully
clipping the ends twice a year. Brush the lashes upward
and the brows toward the temples, training the arch to be
high and piquant. For eyebrows that are weak and thin
this lotion is excellent and should be applied frequently:

Sulphate of quinine, io grains; oil of sweet almonds, 2
ounces.

The eyebrows should be kept clean by brushing with a
tiny eyebrow brush. A half dozen strokes upon each eye-
brow is enough. The lashes should be brushed upward.
That makes them curly. Sometimes eyebrows grow un-
evenly. They begin well, but end drearily, in a straggling
line of sparse hairs or in no hairs at all. Massaging the
scant parts of the eyebrow with lanolin will improve them.

Here is a most excellent tonic for the brows, and indeed
for the hair. Applied three times a week it will give the
hair a fine stimulus toward growth. You can get from
the druggist a smaller quantity than I describe but the pro-
portions should be as follows :

Tincture of vanilla, 6 grams ; tincture carnation, 10 grams ;
Peruvian balsam, 0.65 grams ; alcohol, 450 grams ; oil of
bergamot, 0.45 grams; oil of lemon, 0.90 grams; quinine,
0.40 grams; infusion of civet, 0.10 grams; infusion of musk,
0.10 grams.

Sometimes the eyelashes show a bothersome tendency to
curve inward, usually on the lower lid. To insure comfort
and avoid dangerous irritation of the eyes they should be
removed by careful manipulation of hair forceps especially
made for the purpose.

Girls often ask me how to make their eyelashes darker.
There are dyes or stains for eyelashes, but I do not rec-

54

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

ommend them. In themselves hair dyes are likely to be
injurious. The application of one of them to the eyelashes
by an unsteady hand might permanently injure the eyes.

Eyelashes are often too light because they are faded. To
restore them to their original color, clipping the ends care-
fully and slightly every two months may strengthen and
stimulate and so darken them. This pomade is in common
use in France:

Red vaseline, i ounce ; tincture of cantharides, J4 dram ;
oil of lavender, 8 drops; oil of rosemary, 8 drops. Apply
with the utmost care so that none of it gets into the eyes.

If your eyelids are encrusted when you wake up in the
morning don’t attempt to remove the incrustations until you
have moistened them with a lotion from your eye cup. The
best one for this purpose is made by dissolving an ounce of
boracic acid in a pint of rosewater.

Styes are ugly and disfiguring. In their first stages they
can be removed by applying ethereal collodion with a camel’s
hair brush. If the condition has progressed far, a tiny
flaxseed poultice soon brings it to the “ ripe ” stage, after
which it can be lanced by an ordinary needle, that has been
sterilized, by passing it through fire.

If your eyebrows are straggly and uneven, and in places
very thin, use an eyebrow brush twice a day. Every morn-
ing and evening brush the brows, giving them at least
twenty-five strokes each and being careful to brush in the
direction you want them to grow. In this way you can do
much to cultivate the beautiful arch. It will also remove
the dandruff that is likely to accumulate about the eyebrows.
Massaging the brows at night with lanolin is also helpful.

The greatest menace to a business girl’s beauty is that
of eye strain. The danger that this eye strain will produce
wrinkles between her eyebrows, will inflame the lids and
cause the eyelashes to fall out, and will dim the brightness
of the eyes and produce the tired expression of the old or

FOR THE EYES, EARS AND NOSE

55

of those who are devitalized by age or overwork is great.

These tendencies she must balance by greater care than
the woman in her home gives to her eyes. Since the strain
during business hours is excessive she should not add to that
the further strain of reading on trains or by lamplight. This
will cause some intellectuals to cry out : “ La Cavalieri
would empty our girls’ heads.” No, but the purpose of
these articles is to reveal beauty secrets, and one of the
secrets of beauty is to keep the eyes clear, bright and un-
tired. Therefore, I repeat that the beauty in business must
not read on the moving train. Nor must she read by lamp-
light. The best use she can make of her eyes for beauty’s
sake while upon a train is to close them, and her brothers or
sisters would better read to her at night.

She can save the strain upon her eyes by closing them for
a few seconds at a time several times a day. They as well
as her face must have their daily bath, better two daily
baths, one in the morning and one in the evening. The
baths may be of equal parts of witch hazel and warm water,
or of warm water into which a half dozen grains of boric
acid have been sprinkled, or a full cupful of rose water.

And the girl who would keep her eyes beautiful must
have plenty of sleep. She should sleep at least eight hours
a day, more if her system requires it. If she can take a
quarter or half an hour’s nap after coming home from busi-
ness and before her evening meal or before going to the
theater or a dance, she will find her tired eyes have re-
gained much of their luster.

Before I finish my advice about the eyes I must not
forget to give still another formula which is excellent for
bathing them:

Salt, Y grain; sulphate of zinc, grain; rosewater, 4
ounces. Mix with an equal quantity of water and apply
with an eye cup.

The eyes tire most easily in summer and that is when they

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

56

should be given an extra amount of rest and attention. Rest
them from the glare of white country roads by wearing
smoked glasses. Rest them by giving up the distractingly
becoming but eyes-torturing, crossbarred, myriad dotted veil.
Read little. Persuade your beaux, your little sisters or your
maids or poor relations to read to you. Close your eyes
while you listen. Don’t read in a hammock nor on a lounge.
Don’t read on a train. Don’t read in a room dimly lighted
“ so that it will keep cool.” Rest the tired eyes by plenty
of sleep at night and an afternoon nap.

Bathe the eyes night and morning with witch hazel and
warm water, mixed in equal parts; or with an ounce of
boracic acid in a pint of rose water.

Use an eye cup, turning the eye upward and opening it
so that it will be laved by the contents of the cup. When
wiping the eyes use a soft cloth, oil linen or silk, and wipe
the lids toward, not away, from the nose. This will help
to prevent the wrinkles about the eyes, also the wrinkling of
the eyelids themselves.

For hot, tired eyes Mme. Recamier used to apply a lotion
made by pouring over dried rose leaves a quantity of water
of twice their bulk. If the eyes are very inflamed washing
them in equal parts of witch hazel and camphor water will
be found beneficial.

For granular lids many pastes have been recommended.
My advice is to seek out a reliable physician and have the
eyes examined and his prescription filled.

A “ cold ” in the eye is most annoying and liable to be
expensive. You get up in the morning, look in the glass,
and find that one of your eyes — or maybe both — looks
much inflamed. If you do nothing about it, the condition
may not pass away for a number of days, and meanwhile
you are more or less disabled.

Very possibly, in some alarm, you go to see the oculist.

FOR THE EYES, EARS, AND NOSE

5 7

He frightens you at once by telling you that it is “ con-
junctivitis ” — a long word which means simply inflammation
of the membrane that covers the eye. He puts some drops
in the eye, and tells you to come back the next day. You
are finally cured, and the bill comes to $15 or $25.

That is well enough. Perhaps you don’t mind the bill,
or the trouble of going to the doctor’s. But it is likely that
you would be less satisfied if you knew that you could easily
have cured yourself much quicker and without any ex-
pense at all.

If you have a “ cold ” in your eye, you can get rid of it
within a few hours by bathing the eye freely and often with
a solution made by putting two drops of formaline into a
teacupful of water. The formaline you can buy at any drug-
store. It may be used with an eye-dropper or an eye-bath
— either of which can be had from the drugstore. But it is
even more effective to allow somebody else to pour it into
the eye by squeezing again and again a rag or piece of cot-
ton saturated with it.

A “ cold ” in the eye is nothing in the world but a germ
infection. Formaline kills the germs. But don’t use for-
maline in any stronger solution than two drops to the tea-
cupful. If you get it into your eye in a pure state, you
might destroy the sight. At the least, you would suffer
frightful pain.

Incidentally it may be said that the best eye-water known
to oculists for the treatment of sore eyes or lids is made
by mixing ten grains of boracic acid and five grains of
tannic acid with one drachm of camphor water and enough
ordinary water to make a total of one ounce. The ingre-
dients are cheap, purchased from the apothecary, and you
can prepare them yourself if you care to.

When not due to over indulgence in alcohol an exces-
sively red nose is usually the result of indigestion or cloth-

58

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

ing that is too tight. In the first stages of the trouble
Parisians bathe the unfortunate feature frequently with this,
recommended by Dr. Vigier:

Distilled water, 50 grams ; rosewater, 50 grams ; tincture
of benzoin, 1 gram ; sulphate of potassium, 1 gram.

If it has become chronic, this, massaged freely into the
affected organ, is recommended by M. Andres-Valdes :

Rectified alcohol, 8 grams ; pure glycerine, 8 grams ; pre-
cipitated chalk, 8 grams ; cherry laurel water, 8 grams ; pre-
cipitate of sulphur, 8 grams.

The ear is the most neglected part of the head. That
a pair of ears stand out unduly from the face, making what
one of your American artists term the accessories of the
face, more prominent than the countenance itself, most
parents regard as a wise visitation of Providence, or ignore
it. Or if the ears are so jammed against the head that
one can not see them without an effort, that, too, is liable
to be overlooked by parents, not by anyone else who sees
the child who is a victim to the malformation.

Be as careful to frame your child’s face well as you are
to frame a picture, so that its colors are best thrown into
relief. Some mothers are artists in the matter of the ar-
rangement of the child’s hair, and when this is becomingly
done they think their duty done. The ears are neglected.

If they stand out prominently from the head they can
be trained, especially in childhood, back into the relation
they should bear to the head. An ear harness made of
strong cotton tape is made for this purpose and should be
worn at night by children or adults who need it. It is far
better, of course, to use it in childhood, when the cartilage
that forms the outer part of the ear is more plastic, but it
is more or less efficacious after you have reached your full
growth. It is certainly well worth trying.

If the ear is packed closely against the head train it out-
ward by gentle massage and light pulling, done by yourself.

FOR THE EYES, EARS AND NOSE

59

You are the best judge of whether the pulling hurts. If it
does, stop. If the ears are less than the normal size they
can be enlarged by the same process.

An earache that cannot be quickly relieved by placing
loose, warm bandages over it should be brought at once to
the doctor’s attention, for a persistent earache is often the
forerunner of serious conditions, especially of deafness.

If your ears are delicate, riding in the tunnels may be
permanently injurious to them. The greatly increased pres-
sure of air under the rivers is a menace to the eardrum;
may cause it to burst and bring about incurable deafness.

You do not know, perhaps, that chronic and severe dis-
eases of the ear often begin in the nose or throat. Where-
fore you are taking care of the ear when you keep the throat
and the nasal passages free from obstacles. Gargling the
throat every morning is a measure for health and cleanli-
ness that no one should neglect. A tablespoonful of salt in
a glass of warm water, or a pinch of borax in the same
quantity of water, will serve well. But I am inclined to
the later belief that no one should douche the nose except
by the doctor’s order. The liquid you use for the douche
might carry germs of disease into the back of the head and
cause a general infection, while they might disappear in the
natural way if there were no interference with nature’s
plan of carrying away invaders of the head. If the nose
is in healthy condition it secretes a pint of liquid every day
and is nature’s adequate channel for clearing the head.

But the ear must not be encouraged nor allowed long
to “ run.” A chronic discharge from the ear is a serious
condition and may have a fatal end. Hasten with it to a
physician. Life insurance companies, knowing how serious
this is, will never insure the lives of persons with running
ears.

Doctors generally advise us not to try to remove the wax
from the ears. They say that if we let the ear alone the

6o

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

wax will finally form into a hard little ball and drop out
without assistance. They advise us not to put cotton into
the ears unless specially advised to by a reliable physician,
who will never give the advice unless the need is imperative.
They forbid poulticing or syringing the ears without special
advice, and they are quite right in warning against the in-
discriminate use of ear drops. Better regard the inner
part of the ear as inviolate. So, too, the outer, except for
keeping the folds clean. In the cleaning do not handle the
ear roughly. Remove the dust from the folds of the ear
with a soft cloth, soap and water. Be careful to im-
mediately and thoroughly dry them. If you leave the neck
or hair about the ears wet or chilled the earache or neu-
ralgia that will follow may lead to deafness.

Never box a child’s ears; it may cause a rupture. Do
not pull a child’s ears, lest injury follow. Be sure to have
the adenoids removed. Adenoids in children are a cause
of ear troubles, among many others. Physicians now be-
lieve that sea-sickness is due to ear disturbances.

CHAPTER IV

KEEPING THE HANDS, ARMS AND SHOULDERS YOUNG

IF I were to summarize my experience and the advice I
wish to give about the hands in one sentence I would
say : “ Never let the hands get cold/’ The advice is very

comprehensive, and in a sense sufficient. If you never let
your hands grow cold they will be soft and white and retain
their natural shape and size.

For example, the fresh air curists travel the radical road
to the point of keeping their bathrooms cool or cold. That
is absurd. The bathroom should be kept at an unvarying
temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit. The bather should
step from tepid water into surrounding air two or three
degrees warmer. Yet I have seen a famous beauty step
from an ice cold tub of water upon her bath mat and shiver-
ingly towel herself dry in a bathroom whose window opened
for six inches above and below upon a court where the air
was at zero. And she wondered why the skin of her hands
and face were rough and purplish.

Another friend, an athletic beauty, disliked carrying a
muff, and December and January found her swinging along
Fifth Avenue, her pretty hands covered only with a pair of
cold, thin, cramping kid gloves. She called at my atelier
and showed me her hands. They were shockingly red
and rough. Both she and my friend of the cold bath room
had violated the first command of the care of the hands:
“ Always keep them warm.”

For each of them I prescribed first changing their habits.
“ Always wash your hands in tepid or hot water,” I said to
61

62

MY SECRET S OF BEAUTY

the first. “ Carry your muff from October to April,” I
said to the second. And when they had promised, I having
sternly exacted that essential thing, I set about removing
the ugliness. The first aid was to show them the right way
to wash their hands. Not one person in fifty knows how to
wash the hands.

The water should be tepid. If it is what is known as
“ hard water ” it may be softened with a little borax, say one
teaspoonful to a quart of water. Or, if possible, it would
be well to use distilled water, since borax must be used with
discretion.

Then dip into the water a cake of the best soap. A
scented soap is not necessarily a bad soap. So I try various
kinds, liking one, but seeking another that is better. When
I have dipped the soap into the water long enough to make
a dainty lather I plunge my hands into it.

Then I dry them, but only partly, upon a soft linen towel.
Before the hands have time to dry, and especially before
they have time to chill, I take from my toilet shelf or medi-
cine chest a bottle of my favorite hand cleanser. The bot-
tle may be large or small, but the proportions of the mixture
I keep always the same. Here is how it is made :

Hydrated glycerine (glycerine mixed with water), i
tablespoonful; any favorite perfume (mine is Italian pink),
3 drops.

Rub the hands thoroughly with this. Rub is not a strong
enough word for the process. It does not suggest the thor-
oughness of the process. Say rather, wash your hands in
it. Ten minutes is none too long for washing the hands.
Five minutes should be given to the water, five to the
glycerine bath. Then dry thoroughly with a towel. Ob-
serve how soft your hands are after such a bath and you
will be surprised and delighted with this treatment.

I am aware that there is some prejudice against glycerine.
Would-be authorities will rise and say that glycerine burns

ANNA HELD

The fascinating beauty of her eyes is famous the world over.

KEEPING HANDS AND ARMS YOUNG 63

an exceedingly delicate skin — that it is an irritant in some
cases. So it is. The person who uses it must be a judge
of that herself. It has always “ agreed ” with my hands,
making them soft and white and supple. But for those
whose hands burn and itch after using it there is this lotion
for occasional, not regular, use, for I am opposed to a too
free use of peroxide of hydrogen:

Peroxide of hydrogen, *4 wineglass ; witch hazel, J4 wine-
glass; always shake well before using.

I should not advise this oftener than three times a week,
at most. And I should vary it with rubbing with olive oil,
which is of especial value to thin hands. A few weeks of
using it will result in a perceptible plumpening of them.

Or, to whiten and soften the hands, this has many advo-
cates, and I see no objection to its occasional use. Am-
monia is too powerful for regular use :

Olive oil, 1 wineglass; ammonia, 6 drops.

But to assure beautiful hands, and that in the shortest
possible time, massage them with a simple cold cream and
wear rubber gloves at night. But the gloves should be at
least two sizes larger than the 5^4 or 6 you wear in kids,
and they should be punctured as freely as the top of a
pepper box. Ventilation is necessary to the health of the
hands and of the owner of the hands.

For a cold cream for the hands for the night toilet I
should advise this mixture :

Spermaceti, 2 ounces; white wax, 1 ounce; almond oil,
2 gills.

There are two pastes that are excellent to be used as a
night cosmetic with gloves:

Rosewater, 6 ounces; honey, 4 ounces; yellow beeswax,
2 ounces; myrrh, 1 ounce.

This can be prepared at home, if you desire. Melt the
wax. Stir the powdered myrrh while hot. Add the honey
and rosewater, drop by drop. If the preparation seems to

64

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

be a bit too thick to handle comfortably thin it with a few
drops of hydrated glycerine.

Another delightful paste has the following ingredients :

Tincture of benzoin, 2 drams; fresh yolks of eggs, 2
drams ; rice flour, 1 dram ; rose water, 1 ounce ; oil of sweet
almonds, 2 drams ; glycerine, 1 dram.

This is a home preparation and because of the perishable
nature of the eggs can only be kept for a few days.

Now as to how to massage the hands. For the face a
rotary motion, but for the hands a lengthwise one. I can
best describe the massage for the hands by summoning your
imagination. Fancy that you are wearing a pair of gloves
for the first time. That you have accurately fitted the fin-
gers and that you have now only to see that the glove fits
smoothly upon the back of the hands. You stroke the back
of the right hand gently, but firmly, with the fingers of the
left, and the left hand with the fingers of the right. Do
this at least twenty times for each hand. Then lightly
pinch the ends of each finger, pressing the sides of the fin-
gers between the thumb and second finger.

Some excessively nervous or anaemic persons are an-
noyed by cold, moist, clammy hands. This is a remedy that
is safe and efficacious :

Tannic acid, 10 grains; tincture of benzoin, y2 ounce;
elder flower water, 3 ounces ; rosewater, 6 ounces.

If there is a strong objection to soap, try the liquid
sort. If your objection persists then substitute fine almond
meal, a handful for one cleansing of the hands. Tincture
of benzoin is also a good softening agent for the water, and
its odor is refreshing. Four drops to a quart of tepid water
are sufficient.

“ How can I have nice, white hands, though I do my own
work?” This is the problem many housewives continually
face. By wearing loose gloves as much as possible about
your work. By thoroughly drying your hands after wash-

KEEPING HANDS AND ARMS YOUNG 65

ing them, or, better still, by washing them again before they
are dried, in:

Glycerine, 1 ounce; lemon juice, 1 ounce.

The beauty of the hands suffers in different ways at dif-
ferent times of year. In winter the cold winds frequently
chap them. For this disagreeable condition I have used
with good results a lotion made as follows:

Glycerine, 1 ounce; spirits of wine, 1 ounce; violet ex-
tract, 1 ounce. Pour over the hands after washing.

If the chapping has made the hands too sensitive to bear
the glycerine try This :

Oil of almonds, 1 ounce ; lime water, 1 fluid ounce ; borax,
6 grains.

In summer the hands and arms often suffer as much if
not more than the face from the sun’s burning rays. Here
is a lotion which will cool them and reduce their unlovely
redness :

Lemon juice, 1 ounce; strained honey, 1 ounce; cologne,
1 ounce.

If the sunburn results in freckles apply with a small
sponge or a bit of absorbent cotton or a camel’s hair brush
the following:

Powdered borax, y2 dram ; sugar, y2 dram ; lemon juice,
1 ounce.

Here is still another remedy which answers the purpose
as well as the ones just described :

Muriate of ammonia, % dram ; lavender water, 1 ounce ;
distilled water, 4 ounces.

For a mild case of freckles here is a simple remedy that
will often prove sufficient :

Peroxide of hydrogen, 1 ounce; ammonia, 10 drops.
Apply with a camel’s hair brush.

Of no part of the body is it quite so true that curves are
the lines of beauty as it is of the arms and shoulders. A
lovely woman in an evening gown always reminds me of a

66

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

beautiful bouquet rising out of a vase. The woman’s head
and shoulders and arms are the flowers, the gown and the
rest of her body the vase. Fancy a bouquet with one fresh,
purple pansy in the center and all about it withered yellow
flowers. It is not a pleasant picture even in fancy, but that
is precisely how the woman with a charming face and un-
lovely arms and shoulders looks.

Beautiful shoulders must first of all be symmetrical
shoulders. They must be just broad enough to balance
finely the figure. If the figure which they surmount be
slender the shoulders also should be slender. But they
should never be thin. For beauty’s sake they must be soft,
not muscular. They must be overlaid with a veiling of
firm flesh. They must slope gently into the lines of the
arms and bust and back by almost imperceptible degrees.
While they are plump in front they should be thin at the
back. A roll of flesh between the shoulder blades is un-
sightly and gives the appearance of age.

After shapeliness of the shoulders in importance comes
whiteness. Shoulders well cared for should be the whitest
part of a woman’s body.

A third important element in the beauty of the shoulders
is the texture of the skin. It should be of satin fineness.

To attain shapely shoulders begin with the chest. The
woman with a high chest always has beautifully shaped
shoulders. Form the habit of breathing deeply. A shop
girl in one of New York’s department stores had so fine a
development of chest and shoulders that I asked her how
she achieved it. Her figure was so slender that I knew she
must have built up those shoulders and the chest by some
wise system of exercise.

“ Yes, haven’t I done fine? ” she answered. “ Two years
ago I was the scrawniest thing you ever saw. My neck
and shoulders looked like a wood pile that had tumbled over
itself. I was all sharp corners. I heard of this new deep

KEEPING HANDS AND ARMS YOUNG 67

breathing and I tried it. Most of it I did on the platforms
of the “ L ” trains. Winter and summer I rode downtown
from Harlem to work, and instead of sitting in the car I
stood on the platform,. At first it made me tired, but after
I got used to it I began to look forward to feeling the clear,
cool air rush through my lungs. Now it’s the best treat of
the day. Maybe I would have got lazy and not kept it up,
but I saw the flesh beginning to pad all the comers of my
neck and shoulders. My chest lost its caved-in look.
You just bet that deep breathing pays.”

Deep breathing does pay. It pays a large dividend in
health and beauty.

But next in importance comes massage. Give me an
excellent masseuse and I could dispense with a doctor, ex-
cept in some tremendous emergency. Thin shoulders can
be plumped and fat shoulders can be reduced by massage.

If they are thin a light massage, using a rotary move-
ment of the palms of the hands, applying olive oil copiously,
will gradually plumpen them. If they are fat the massage
should be much deeper and more vigorous. The masseuse
should knead as near the bone as possible.

For this massage a cream may be applied to feed the tis-
sues. Here is a good one :

Oil of sweet almonds, 20 grams; lanolin, 30 grams; tan-
nin, y2 gram.

Yet another cream that is an excellent builder of flesh
is this, so commonly in use in Europe as to be almost a
household article:

Lard, 50 grams; alcohol (95 per cent.), 10 grams; oil of
rosemary, 6 drops ; oil of bergamot or orange, 6 drops.

If the shoulders are fat the massage should be much
deeper and more vigorous. The masseuse should get as
near to the bone as possible. She should use neither oils
nor cream, but instead some astringent lotion, as, for in-
stance, this:

68

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

Rosewater, 12 ounces; tincture of benzoin, 1 ounce; tan-
nic acid, 20 grains; elder flower water, 4 ounces.

Shoulders should be white. Normally they are, and if
not the general health should be looked to as a corrective.
Are the shoulders yellow? Probably their owner is bilious
and requires a change from a heavy meat and sweets diet
to a lighter one in which cereals and green vegetables and
salads predominate. The system should be irrigated by
much water drinking. Try to remember that the amount
of food for a day’s sustenance has been estimated in the
proportion of five parts to seven parts water. Are her
shoulders marred by pimples or acne? Again she should
look to her diet, eating less rich food. A thorough scrub-
bing of the shoulders with warm water and pure soap once
a day, followed by a rub-down with alcohol, should be suf-
ficient to keep them prettily white if the diet is a correct
one.

If the shoulders have been tanned or freckled by much
sea bathing or lolling on the burning sands, they will be
improved by applications twice a day of this old-fashioned
remedy :

Horseradish root, I ounce; borax, 2 drams. Pour over
these one pint of boiling water. Apply with a sponge.

Also apply distilled water and the juice of a lemon or
peroxide of hydrogen, mixed in equal parts.

The effects of a half dozen applications of these should
be quickly apparent.

Arms, like shoulders, must possess symmetry. That is,
they must seem to be of the body, included in the original
plan instead of being hastily added as an afterthought.
They must be in perfect proportion. The size of the arm
depends wholly upon the size of the body.

In Paris recently a pretty little Russian, Miss Amelia
Rose, won the prize for having a perfect arm. In Paris,
where beauty is the chief divinity, the awarding of the prize

KEEPING HANDS AND ARMS YOUNG 69

to one not of the French nation was a momentous matter.
Everyone wanted to know the proportions of the arm.
The Russian beauty’s height was five feet five inches.
Her arms conformed to the canons of statuary. The upper
arm was one-third shorter than the forearm. The circum-
ference of the upper arm was thirteen inches; of the fore-
arm nine inches, and of the wrist six inches.

The beautiful arm looks as though it were made for
ornament, not for use. No muscle is unduly prominent.
It should be as soft and smooth as white velvet. If the
arm is too fat its size can be reduced by massage with the
wringing motion. The masseuse should manipulate the
arm exactly as though she were wringing out clothes be-
fore hanging them out to dry.

To develop the arm there are many exercises. Small
dumbbells, weighing half a pound, can be swung to great
advantage. Also to develop at once the muscles of shoul-
ders and arms this is valuable. Stretch the arms hori-
zontally from the body until the muscles are tense. Then
slowly raise them above the head, trying to keep the muscles
rigid. Clench the fists and, stretching the arms horizon-
tally at the sides, raise and lower the arms. This develops
the biceps. Clench the fists and turn them slowly about
on the wrists to make the wrists supple. Light massage
with olive oil supplements the exercises.

I know a girl who otherwise had a charming figure, but
whose arms were distressingly thin. It took two years of
attention to them to make those arms attractive, but she
succeeded.

The means were a change of diet to more nourishing and
muscle-building food, a half hour twice a day with dumb-
bells, and daily massage with cold cream or olive oil. The
results were soft, well rounded, pinkly white arms that
charmed everyone who saw them.

An exercise that develops the arms and the back and

70

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

bust as well is this : Holding the arms at the sides, inhale

deeply. Clench the fists. Bend the elbows. Bring the
fists to the shoulders, moving only the lower arms. With
the fists resting at the shoulders raise the elbows to a
straight line with the shoulders. Move the fists down
slowly until they fit close into the armpits. Move the fists
slowly around to the back, crossing them, and then lower-
ing the arms to their first position. Keep the muscles tense
while so doing. This is a famous resistance exercise.

If the texture of the skin on the arms is coarse, a dry
rub every day with a soft flesh brush should open the pores,
whose long collecting accretions have made the skin rough.
This treatment will make the skin tender. If it seems sen-
sitive apply a good cold cream every morning and evening.
After the morning application powder may be added. The
arms may be dusted with a pure powder. One of the
best cold creams for the purpose is this:

Oil of sweet almonds, 50 grams ; white wax, 10 grams ;
spermaceti or sperm oil, 10 grams; rosewater, 20 grams;
tincture of benzoin, 5 grams ; tincture of amber, 2 grams.

While reducing her arms, or before she has succeeded in
so doing, the stout woman should not wear sleeves shorter
than the elbow length. Her upper arm is gross and she
should veil it until she has reduced it to lovelier propor-
tions.

To keep my hands smooth and white I wash them a la
Cavalieri. First in soapy water, through many waters
until they are spotless as my linen. Then I dry them, but
only partly, by the heat of the hands themselves, not with
a towel. Then I bathe them again in this mixture :

One ounce glycerine; three ounces rosewater; ten drops
lemon juice. This should be well shaken when being
mixed, and also every time it is used.

Cold-roughened hands must be treated with special care
at night. That is the time to give them their complete

KEEPING HANDS AND ARMS YOUNG 71

toilet. It is well for them if it has not been necessary to
wash them often during the day. They must, of course, be
kept clean. But better avoid soiling them during the day
than wash them too often.

Buy a large pair of rubber gloves, at least three or four
sizes larger than the kid gloves you are in the habit of
wearing. After washing the hands in warm water, sof-
tened with a few drops of ammonia, say a half dozen drops
to a quart of water, and a good, pure soap, as white castile
or one of the tar soaps, bathe the hands in cooler water and,
before drying them, rub thoroughly over them:

Glycerine, 1 ounce; rosewater, 1 ounce. Then draw on
the rubber gloves.

If the hands be much darkened or reddened this will
whiten as well as soften them:

Glycerine, 1 ounce; lemon juice, 1 ounce.

In extreme cases a paste worn for two or three nights
under the rubber gloves will facilitate the work of making
the hands once more presentable. This is a good paste :

Almond meal, 1 ounce; tincture of benzoin, 10 drops;
honey, y2 ounce.

In similar fashion when hands have been reddened and
blistered by the sun wear a pair of loose gloves at night,
first covering the hands with this mixture:

Honey, 2 ounces; glycerine, 1 ounce; barley flour, 8
ounces; whites of two eggs.

Or the following lotion rubbed into the hands well will
answer the same purpose:

Cologne, 2 ounces; lemon juice, 2 ounces; liquid honey, 2
ounces.

Much is asked, and much from time to time answered,
about the care of the arms, yet an attractive arm may be
hopelessly marred by an ugly elbow. Resolve that your
arms are only as pretty as your elbows, and set to work
upon them.

72

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

First examine them closely and while you examine them
keep in mind the standard for a lovely elbow. To be lovely
it should be little in evidence, so little, in fact, that it seems
to be merely an appearing and disappearing feature — so
to speak — a dimple playing peekaboo.

Instead of this what do you probably see? A sharp,
bony corner, or a mass of unsightly wrinkles, in either
case darker than the surrounding flesh. Almost certainly
the skin covering it is dark and rough, “ a patch of goose-
flesh ” a young girl complained when dressing for a dance.

Now what is to be done?

Try first to rid the elbows of their disfiguring redness or
darker color. Rub them every night before retiring with
a half grape fruit. This is better than a lemon because
the elbow can settle into it and work about it. If you
place the halves of grape fruit on a table and rest your
elbows in them you can read or chat or meditate and leave
the elbows to their bleaching for an indefinite time. Re-
peat this every night until you notice an improvement in
their color.

But do not be satisfied with this progress. Scrub the
elbows daily with warm water and a bleaching soap. One
of the peroxide soaps would be useful. Or use castile soap
with water, into which you have sprinkled a few drops of
peroxide of hydrogen or of ammonia.

An ingenious girl I know bound slices of lemon on her
elbows every night before going to bed. While this is not
as quickly efficacious as the grape fruit it is cheaper.

When this gradual whitening of the elbows has been ac-
complished take the next step in their beautifying, which
is smoothing them. If they are very rough, scrub them
with a pumice stone that has been dipped into warm water.
Rub the roughened spots gently with this, and slowly, lest
you irritate the skin. Then apply cold cream or olive oil
to allay even any tendency to irritation. Or if they are

KEEPING HANDS AND ARMS YOUNG 73

only slightly roughened, rubbing them round and round
with fingers that have been spread with cocoanut oil is
enough, if long continued, to soften them.

If the elbows are very sharp massaging the flesh about
them with palms well greased with mutton tallow should in
time nourish them into roundness.

CHAPTER V

MASSAGE AS A BEAUTIFIER

MASSAGE is of two kinds — good and bad. It is good
or bad, according to the knowledge and skill of the
masseuse. I have a profound, unshakable belief in the
efficacy of massage. It is my cure-all. I rarely take medi-
cine. Almost never in all my life, in fact. For long ago
I heard what your American poet, Oliver Wendell Holmes
wrote : “ If all the drugs were thrown into the sea it

would be hard on the fishes, but it would be better for
humanity.” That, from a man who knew medicine deeply
impressed me.

That which will most interest readers of this book, prob-
ably, will be the consideration of massage as a beautifier.
In that aspect I most earnestly recommend it. For half
my life I have had my face massaged frequently, and for
many years I have had it massaged every day. With what
result? That my face is absolutely free from lines. That
my complexion is smooth and absolutely free from blem-
ishes. I resolved that it should approach the smoothness
and clearness of an infant’s skin if care could achieve that
effect, and I have succeeded.

Moreover, there is no abnormal growth of hair upon the
face. With pleasure I lay the ghost of that fiction against
massage. Despite all that we hear to the contrary, the fric-
tion has not caused the growth of the tiniest of beards.

If you entrust the massage of your face to a masseuse,
be sure that she has had proper instruction and considerable
experience. Bad massage is much worse than none, for it
74

MASSAGE AS A BEAUTIFIER

75

will cause wrinkles instead of removing them. The mas-
seuse must know the geography, as it were, of the muscles.
She must learn to follow instead of countering those
muscles.

To make this quite clear, let me quote from the usually
baffling words of a medical authority, Dr. William Murrell,
of the Royal College of Physicians of London : “ The
individual muscles, or groups of muscles, are picked out or
isolated and mechanically stimulated to contraction. The
movements must be made in the direction of the muscle
fibers, and the tips of the fingers must be carried along in
the interstitia, so as to promote the flow of lymph and in-
crease tissue metamorphosis. The manipulations are car-
ried out systematically in definite order with a definite
object.,,

Massage promotes circulation. By promoting circulation
it nourishes parts of the body in which circulation is or-
dinarily defective. The well nourished portions of the
body are the last to grow old. The best illustration is per-
haps those regions of the Western part of the United
States where there is little rain. These regions would be
waste places if it were not for irrigation. Canals are made
that tap the nearest rivers. From these canals ditches are
dug. The ditches form a vein-like network of little streams
that feed the arid land. So massage stimulates sluggish
circulation and nourishes the muscles that might otherwise
grow flabby and the skin that would grow dry and wrinkled.

The face must be massaged with a nourishing cream.
This is one that cleanses as well as feeds the skin, and is
simple and especially grateful in midsummer:

Almond oil, 2 ounces; spermaceti, y2 ounce; white wax,
y2 ounce; cucumber juice, i ounce.

After facial massage with a cold cream some women of
exceedingly sensitive skins choose to bathe the face in this
or a similar lotion:

7 6

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

Tincture of benzoin, i ounce; tincture of vanilla, 4
drams ; sweet almond oil, 3 ounces ; bitter almond oil, 1
dram; spermaceti, 5 drams; white wax, 5 drams; lanolin,
1 ounce; witch hazel, 1 ounce; rosewater, 3 ounces.

Having first had your face massaged several times by an
expert masseuse you can learn the movements yourself and
massage your own face. Some become deft at self-facial
massage in a short time. Some who have clumsy fingers, or
a lack of perception, never master the art. Some beautiful
women never entrust their faces to a masseuse, I am told.

First look to the shadowy new lines upon your face. If
there be none, consider where the lines form when you
laugh, when you frown, when you sulk, or when you cry.
Anticipate these lines by nourishing well the muscles in
those regions.

The wrinkle regions of a woman’s face are four. The
first is about the outer corners of the eyes. The wrinkles
there formed have been known for many ages as crow’s
feet, because they radiate outward in somewhat the fashion
that a bird’s toes are disposed. They might as fittingly
be called chicken’s toes, or pigeon’s toes, or eagle’s toes.
They are supposed to be the ineradicable, unmistakable
signs of age. The truth is, they are the paths of laughter,
and indicate a merry disposition. I have seen them on the
face of a boy of twelve. I have seen them strongly marked
on the countenance of a young woman of twenty-one.
They are the measures of the laughing capacity of the per-
son who bears them. In that light they are the least ugly
of the wrinkles ; yet wrinkles they are, and at best wrinkles
are undesirable.

To remove crow’s feet, dip the tips of the fingers in one
of the good massage creams, and with the second and third
fingers rub the area affected with a rotary motion, working
from the corners of the eyes outward.

More disfiguring than the crow’s feet, because of more

MASSAGE AS A BEAUTIFIER

77

ignoble origin and more difficult to erase, are the diagonal
lines from the nostrils to the corner of the lips. They are
known variously as the “ bad temper lines,” the “ emotional
lines,” the “ lines of discontent.” Using the middle finger,
the massage should begin at the corners of the mouth, and
should end where the lines end, at the nostrils. This move-
ment should also be a rotary one. It should be deeper and
firmer than that about the eyes.

The third of the wrinkle areas, and the one in which the
wrinkles first appear in most faces, is the forehead. One
of your American women doctors said that the signs upon
the forehead are unmistakable and infallible ones. “ When
a woman has three transverse lines across the forehead I
know that she is twenty-seven,” said this woman physician.
“ When she has two vertical lines between the eyes I know
that she is forty-five.” This is interesting, but untrue. I
know half a dozen women of fifty who have neither of these
groups of telltale lines.

In massaging the lines of the brow, remember the gen-
eral rule for massage. The movement must be in contrary
direction from the line. For instance, the vertical lines be-
tween the eyes must be treated by the second finger of each
hand and must be rotary and upward, branching above the
eyes with a gently diminishing motion to the right and left
toward the temples. The transverse lines, forming as they
do by a creasing of the skin from bottom to top, should be
massaged by a rotary motion from the bottom to the top of
the forehead.

The fourth of the danger zones is that in front of the
ears. The vertical lines in front of the ears are believed
to betoken advancing age. Yet, like those about the eyes,
they are misleading. They sometimes appear on the faces
of infants. The manner in which the ear is set accounts
largely for the presence of these wrinkles. If it is set
out from the head prominently the skin is loose in front of

78

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

the ear and falls readily into wrinkles. If the ear sets close
to the head the skin in front of the ear is drawn taut, and
the so-called age-betraying wrinkles never appear. To
check this fold of skin is almost impossible if the ear stands
out from the head. To retard its deepening, use the middle
finger for massage, and with deep, firm motion push slowly
upward toward the top of the ear.

The lines on the neck behind the ears distress some
women. To correct them, massage with the first and sec-
ond and third fingers deeply upward toward the hair.

Massage of the body is prescribed by many physicians
for nervous disorders, for defective circulation and for re-
duction of flesh, for insomnia and other disorders. While
invaluable, it should only be given by a skillful masseuse,
preferably one recommended by a reliable physician.

Of all systems of massage the Swedish is regarded as
best. Its operators must study their art for two years.

If a woman be thin this massage emollient is agreeable
and adds to her weight :

Oil of sweet almonds, 6 ounces; oil of bitter almonds,
20 drops; balsam of tolu, 4 grams; benzoin, 4 grams; es-
sence of orange, 6 drops; essence of cajeput, 6 drops.

If the patient be plump, talcum powder is the only aid to
the hands of the masseuse required.

The beautiful woman has points. Let us enumerate
them: A figure graceful in outline, not too thin, nor too

fat. A face that is fascinating, and by fascinating I mean
interesting. But to make it interesting it must have what?
Features that are well proportioned, let us say regular.
They must seem to belong to one’s own face and no other.
The nose must not be too large nor too small, but just large
enough for the face in which it is set.

How to keep the lines of that face as good as they were
at the beginning, or better? It is most important. The
nose should be massaged — intelligently massaged. The

PAULINE FREDERICK

Painters and sculptors agree in giving her high rank among the
most beautiful living women.

MASSAGE AS A BEAUTIFIER 79

owner of the nose herself can do it quite as well if not bet-
ter than any other.

If the nose is too broad, she should massage it delicately
toward the point. If it is too sharp, she should massage it
away from the point to the flare of the nostrils, always with
the merest points of the cushions of her fingers. To keep
its normal whiteness it should have often, at least once a
day, a hot compress of cotton dipped in rosewater or other
distilled water, spread upon it. And after that there should
be a dash of cold water upon it to close the pores.

CHAPTER VI

WHAT TO DO FOR THE FEET

HE beautiful foot is that of the baby. It is beautiful

because it is natural, unmarred by ill-fitting, cramp-
ing, distorting shoes.

Just in so far as the foot has departed from its original
shape and habit is it less than perfect. It is hard, indeed,
to find a beautiful foot. The story is told of a New York
sculptor who, searching for a perfect foot, dismissed three
thousand models who were applicants for the honor, declar-
ing that there was not one beautiful foot among them.

By the established modern standard, the foot should be
neither small nor large, though it is preferable that it be
small rather than large. The tiny foot of a large woman
is absurd. It suggests deformity. So does the short foot
on the tall woman. The foot should seem to belong to the
woman, not to have been loaned to her for the occasion.
Like her hand, it should seem to be in perfect harmony
with the rest of her body. If the owner be plump, the foot
should not be thin. If she be thin, the foot should not be
•plump.

It should be neither bony nor too fat. The bones should
be well covered, but their outline should be plain, enough
to give a certain distinction called “ character ” to the foot.
The toes should spread comfortably apart, yet there should
not be unseemly spaces between them. The spaces should
be slight and even like those between regular and well-
kept teeth. The skin should be smooth and pinky white.

So

WHAT TO DO FOR THE FEET

81

The nails should be strong but smooth and semi-transparent
and delicately pink. Above all, there should be no blemish,
no disfiguring corn on the small toes, no enlargement of the
joints, nor bunions, no calloused spot upon the sole. The
high-bred foot lies, according to existing standards, not flat
upon the ground, but rests upon the heel and front part of
the sole, so that a rill of water may easily run under at. To
correspond with this natural bridge, there must also be an
arched instep.

This is*the standard. Now how to achieve it. First,
wear shoes that are large enough and let them be of soft,
pliable leather. Large enough, I said, but not too large.
The foot that slips about in large shoes is as likely to get
callous disfigurements as the one that is pinched. Heavy
leather and thick soles have no place on a woman’s delicate
feet. The stiff, unyielding boot may be all right upon the
masculine foot, and it may keep more perfect upon the inch-
thick sole, but the skin of a woman’s foot is too tender for
this. The leather should be close but fine, the soles of
medium thickness. But I cannot lay too much emphasis
upon the need of a straight, even heel on the shoe. The
heel is to the shoe what the cornerstone is to the house.
It is quite as necessary that it be well laid, straight and
secure. The crooked heel threatens the health as the in-
secure cornerstone the security of the house.

The run-down heel disturbs the adjustment of the in-
ternal organs. It pushes some of them close upon each
other, draws others away from their natural support. It
destroys the balance of the foot, causing blisters and cal-
lous spots. It throws the weight where it should not be,
doing violence to the center of gravity.

Watch your heels as closely as you should the running
time of your watch. When the bottoms of the heels dis-
close an inclined plane at the back or the sides, you will
find a corresponding blister or newly formed callous spot

82

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

on the sole. Your ounce of prevention is sending the
shoes to a cobbler the moment you see the hint of crooked-
ness in the heels. They can be planed or built up to their
former evenness at very slight expense. The money spent
thus is much less than the fee of a chiropodist that you will
save.

Having formed the habit of wearing comfortable shoes
— and let me say here that American shoes are the best and
that I always wear them — see that the feet are released
often from their prison. Even the best pair of shoes is
a prison. In your own room wear the Japanese sandals
that protect the delicate soles from the floor, but that leave
the toes free to lie loosely apart, though they are secured
by strong cross bands. These give the muscles of the feet
a chance to relax. They are much better for this purpose
than the felt slipper or shoe, which is too closely woven to
permit proper ventilation.

The feet, like that other extreme of the body, the hair,
need sunlight. Think how little the poor, imprisoned feet
get. They need air. How little of that they get.

Well-shaped feet are so much rarer to-day than they were
in the days of the Romans and Greeks, mainly because we
imprison them in unventilated, sun-forbidding shoes instead
of wearing the sandal of the ancients, which gave the feet
the light and air they need.

It is unfortunate that the arbiters of fashion have not
seen fit to condemn modern shoes in favor of the ancient
sandal. More harm is done to the feet by the present-
day footwear, than is done to the hair by rats and puffs or
to the vital organs by tightfitting corsets.

Some years ago it did become the fashion for children to
wear sandals, but their elders were not wise enough to
follow their example. But if you cannot wear sandals
yourselves, there is no reason why you shouldn’t have your

WHAT TO DO FOR THE FEET 83

children wear them, for it is even more important that the
child’s feet be properly taken care of than the adults.

In early life, the bones are naturally soft and may be
readily forced out of their normal shapes by any consider-
able exterior pressure. It is obvious that to maintain the
proper contour of the child’s feet, the sandal is much more
satisfactory than the shoe. The former permits the feet
to be flat on the ground and spreads the toes, the latter
crowds the toes and compresses the whole foot.

And adults can improve the condition of their feet by
wearing sandals in the house, even if prevailing fashion does
not permit of their wearing them out of doors.

To be healthy, the feet must be kept scrupulously clean.
So much are they exposed to the dust of the streets, es-
pecially by those who wear low shoes, that they need more
than the perfunctory share of the morning plunge or shower.
They should be bathed every night in a foot-tub containing
warm water. If the feet be tender, the water should con-
tain borax in the proportion of an ounce to a gallon.

Warm salt water is also very easeful for tired feet, es-
pecially useful for reducing the congestion in swollen feet.
This powder, sprinkled into the warm bathwater, affords
great relief :

Borax (powdered), 1 ounce; sea salt, 1 ounce; alum, J4
ounce. Use one teaspoonful to a gallon of water.

For tired, swollen feet, lemon juice, sprinkled freely into
the water, is a means of alleviation. An easier way to apply
it is to cut a lemon in half and rub the soles of the feet
with it.

Calloused spots may be removed from the sole by planing
off the rough surfaces with pumice stone.

English women give ease to their feet after a long walk
by bathing them in an infusion of rosemary leaves. Steep
the rosemary leaves, a half ounce to a gallon of water.

84

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

When cool, bathe the feet for twenty minutes in the mix-
ture, adding warm water now and then, as the water in the
foot- tub cools.

For feet inclining to excessive perspiration a powder made
of these ingredients should be used in the footbath :

Tannin, 60 grains; alum, 2 drams; lycopodium, 6
drams. One teaspoonful of the powder to a gallon of warm
water is sufficient.

Sensitive feet are much relieved by this remedy, which
is popular in England:

Rosemary leaves, pound; juniper berries, 3 ounces;
dried mint, ^4 ounce. Boil in three quarts of water.

Corns are merely hardened portions of the skin usually ap-
pearing upon the top of the toes. Each speaks loudly of
pressure by shoes. No Indian ever had a corn until he
began wearing the white man’s boots. Corns and bunions
are the record of the fact that the shoe, as many wear it,
is an instrument of torture. If the corns be new and not
deep-seated, they can be removed by self-treatment.

Soak the feet from fifteen to twenty minutes in warm
water, softened by a few drops of violet ammonia, or of
benzoin. Bind a slice of lemon on the toes, tying it securely
with a bandage of white muslin. If the corn responds
naturally to the treatment it should be so loose after three
or four applications that you can push it out by gentle fric-
tion with a towel. Never use your finger nails in extracting
a corn, no matter how loose it seems. Blood poisoning
might result.

If the case is more obstinate, this, applied with a small
camel’s hair brush should be quickly efficacious:

Collodion, 4 grams ; ether (65 per cent.), 2 grams ; alcohol
(95 per cent.), 1 gram; tincture of Cannabis Indica, 14
gram ; salicylic acid, J4 gram.

Less expensive is this:

Collodion, 1 ounce ; salicylic acid, 1 dram ; fluid extract of

WHAT TO DO FOR THE FEET 85

Cannabis Indica, 1 scruple. Apply several times a day
until the corn is soft enough to be scraped away.

If the corns are of the “ soft ” variety that grow between
the toes, absorbent cotton powdered with tannin or alum
may be inserted between them. Ring plasters to protect
the corn from further irritation by the shoe have their
friends and foes. I think it much wiser to remove the pres-
sure permanently by abandoning the shoes that caused it.

Bunions, or enlarged and inflamed joints, are the greatest
affliction to which suffering feet can be subjected. A new
broad pair of shoes with low heels is the best remedy. To
assist this remedy, the joints may be painted three times a
day with this simple but strong bunion lotion :

Tincture of iodine, 2 drams; carbolic acid, 2 drams;
glycerine, 2 drams.

A dainty foot powder should be on every woman’s toilet
shelf or table, especially if her feet perspire freely. An ex-
cellent one is made like this :

Florentine orris powder, 100 grams; starch, 100 grams;
alcohol, 10 grams; phenic acid, 5 grams. This should be
sprinkled on the foot before dressing it, especially through-
out the summer.

And here is still another foot powder which I have used
for a long time, sprinkling a half ounce of it into a foot
tub holding two gallons of water, or dusting my feet with
it after the bath :

Powdered alum, 1 ounce ; powdered boracic acid, 2 ounces ;
talcum, 4 ounces; starch, 6 ounces; a few drops of perfume
at pleasure.

This yet simpler powder is much used for perspiring
feet :

Powdered orris root, 1 ounce ; powdered alum, y2 ounce ;
rice powder, 3 ounces.

The nails should be cut square across, except when the
formation of the toes, acquired by close pressure of the toes

86

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

upon each other, demands that the nail be cut round to adapt
itself to the shape of the toes.

At the first sign of an ingrowing toe nail each of two
simple remedies may be used. The corner of the nail at
the side where the toe is inflamed may be gently lifted and
cotton thrust beneath it to relieve the pressure. Also at
the middle of the upper edge of the nail a tiny V may be
cut. Nature in extra efforts to heal this breach in the nail
withdraws her forces from the irritation of the side of the
toe.

Light massage by a skillful masseuse is greatly bene-
ficial to tired feet. Dancers, pedestrians and female
cyclists have used this unguent, rubbing it well into the
muscles and about the joints, to make them more flexible:

Portugal extract, I ounce; rosewater, i ounce; brandy,
i gill; olive oil, 3 ounces; mutton tallow, 4 ounces; virgin
wax, 1 ounce; ambergris, p2 grain.

Walking barefoot in the early morning is still a fad of
many society women and actresses and singers who have
regard for the health of their feet. Besides the beauty of
the foot and the elastic carriage so secured, walking with
bare feet upon the bare earth is believed by many physi-
cians to be very beneficial in certain cases. It is recom-
mended also as a tonic for the nerves.

A good exercise to develop the elasticity of the foot is to
sit with the feet scarcely reaching the floor, and press the
fore part of the sole upon the floor. This also strengthens
weak ankles.

No woman is ever pretty while her feet hurt; and a
horrid male person has been ungallant enough to say that
the awkwardest thing in nature is “ a woman with a sore
foot.” That he didn’t exaggerate, we must admit.

What shall we do to stop this wearing of beauty, this
most excruciating of the minor physical ills? We should
first look to the cause.

WHAT TO DO FOR THE FEET

87

Is the skin between the toes cracked and sensitive? It
is possible that this is a symptom of a uric acid condition.
See your physician and let him determine whether it is so.
If you have joined the great army of those who have the
uric acid diathesis, be treated accordingly. If the cracks
between the toes are caused by the feet being excessively
hot, either of these should complete a cure in a short time :

Spread zinc ointment over the cracked surfaces; or,
powder them thickly with Fuller’s earth.

If the feet are bathed every night before retiring in tepid
water into which a little borax or common table salt has
been sprinkled, there is little likelihood of sensitive,
swollen feet, or of hardened or calloused portions on the
feet. As the evening foot bath is a preventative, so is it a
cure for such conditions, unless they have reached an ex-
treme stage. If so, after carefully drying the feet — being
careful to dry them thoroughly between the toes so that
no soft corns will form there — rub the swollen portions
of the feet gently with witch hazel; or the hard, calloused
portions with olive oil or cold cream.

Keep several pairs of shoes so that you need not wear
the same pair on two successive days. Wear a different
pair of hose each day, turning wrong side out and leaving
to air the pair that you have worn the previous day.

If the feet perspire this remedy is a good one — apply it
by dusting the feet with it:

Borax, 10 grams; starch, 10 grams; salicylic acid, 3
grams ; powdered alum, 5 grams ; talcum powder, 50 grams ;
naphthol, 5 grams.

This simpler preparation can be applied with a camel’s
hair brush :

Distilled water, y2 pint; bichromate of potassium,
drams ; essence of violet, 1 dram.

The masculine habit of resting the feet upon another
chair than the one occupied by the sitter has its origin in

88

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

the instinct of self-preservation. The blood flows too freely
into the legs and feet that remain too long in a suspended
position, engorging the veins and causing discomfort. It
is this condition which men seek to relieve by placing their
feet on desks and chairs. It is a habit which women may
well imitate when alone — at least to the limit of the height
of a chair seat. The “ long chair ” of the French meets the
need of allowing the legs to lie on a level with a portion
of the body while the upper part is in a sitting posture.

Rest the feet by wearing larger shoes and only cotton
stockings. Wear sandals without stockings in your room
on warm days.

CHAPTER VII

THE PROPER CARE OF THE MOUTH AND TEETH

O be beautiful one must have an ideal of beauty and

strive always to reach it. Wishing to make and
keep the mouth beautiful, we must have ever in our minds
an image of a beautiful mouth.

What must a mouth be to be beautiful? Ideals about
beauty differ greatly, but there can scarcely be any differ-
ence of opinion about the attributes of an attractive mouth.
It must be well shaped.

It must be red, but not too red. The teeth must be, or
seem to be, perfect.

If I were harsh enough to criticise American women, I
should say that their eyes are beautiful, but their mouths
are not so beautiful. I should say that their lips are too
thin. I should say also that their teeth are not perfect.
I should qualify this by saying that I am speaking of the
average, not the exceptional, American woman.

The reason for this fault of lips that are too thin and too
straight lies chiefly in character, and there we have a para-
dox, for it is not a fault of character. American women
have immense self-reliance, tremendous decision, and these
are written in lips that might be carved from pink marble,
straight, fine, unyielding. I would not change those admi-
rable traits of character, but I would use massage to relax
the muscles about the lips and remove that drawn expres-
sion.

89

go

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

The pleasing mouth has lips that curve from thin outer
corners to a ripe fullness at the middle. The sweep should
be upward to a fine cleft at the middle of the upper lip.
A deep cleft just above the upper lip is one of the recog-
nized marks of beauty. The lower lip should be straighter
and not so full as the upper. Much has been said about
the beauties of the lips, but nothing has been said more
illuminative than the phrase “ Cupid’s bow.”

Study the gentle sweep of a bow, held in place by a cord.
It adheres to the rule, “ Curves are the lines of beauty.”
The curve is soft, tender. It seems to be the blending of
countless curves. So the mouth. I once saw the mouth
of a cruel woman described as being “ like a slit in a stone
wall.” I thought the phrase apt.

I believe in allowing the mouth to take care of itself.
It is its surroundings, its environment, so to speak, that is
important. Look to the lines from nostrils to lips. See
that they are removed by massage. Massage restores cir-
culation. Massage is like a system of irrigation for
waste land. Creases are caused by lack of circulation.
The muscles that hold the mouth in a firm line are thread-
like, one just above and at the sides of the lips. It is most
important to keep these taut by massage.

As to color, I have said that the lips should not be too
red. The normal lips should be the same color as the
gums, and has not your dentist said to you, “ Your gums
are too red, are not healthy ” ? So the lips should be a deep
pink, or a light red. Not blood color, but three shades at
least lighter than a stream of arterial blood. I make this
distinction because venous blood may be bluish, and far
from a model for the healthful color of the lips.

An Italian authority on beauty said the beautiful mouth
must always be open enough to show five teeth. This is
attractive, but not hygienic. The teeth are to the beauty
of the mouth as important as the keystone to an arch.

CARE OF THE MOUTH AND TEETH 91

Without the keystone there can be no arch. Without lovely
teeth the beauty of the mouth does not exist. The lips are
a promise of beauty. The teeth are its fulfillment.

The teeth should be regular. They should not be
crowded together, and there should be no aggressively no-
ticeable spaces between them. They should be white, or
seem white. The unromantic truth is that teeth are
never white. They are of three shades, blue, yellow and
gray, always one or the other. But in contrast with the
lips they look white, and the more vivid the lips the whiter
do the teeth look in contrast. Which is the reason, I sup-
pose, that I have seen women with frightfully overcarmined
lips.

Now, how to make the mouth or keep the mouth well
shaped, red but not too red, and teeth to be or look perfect.
The time to train our mouths to beauty is in our infancy.
Our mothers should begin the work, and when we have
reached years of intelligence, we should carry it forward.

If an infant’s mouth is too large it can be trained to
lesser size by tender pinching of the corners. This makes
the line at the corners almost indeterminate, and dimin-
ishes the size. Need I tell any mother that this must be
most gently and tenderly done? Also train the lips to
deepen their beauty cleft by pushing the middle portions
together with the first fingers. This light pressure four
or five times a day, when you are dressing the child in the
morning and undressing her at night, will marvelously re-
fashion the mouth. I knew a Parisian mother who not
only made over her child’s mouth, but also the nose into
good lines by this light, discreet pinching.

If your mouth is defective, improve the shape of your
lips by avoiding careless habits. Many pretty women are
disfigured by crude, careless habits of mouthing their words,
of chewing their lips, of ridiculous labial contortions while
they talk.

92

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

To correct them, practice in talking or reciting before a
mirror. Note whether you draw down the lips while you
speak. Note whether you catch them between your teeth
and nervously chew them. Observe whether, while you
make a short speech, longitudinal lines form on the upper
lip. Notice whether your smile is simple, natural, unex-
aggerated, or whether your mouth widens vacuously, or
draws into a prim resemblance to a buttonhole when you
smile. When you have determined whether you have any
of these bad habits, determine to cure them, and do so.
There is but one way to cure them, and that is by remem-
bering your fault and avoiding it.

The lips should be lightly massaged before falling asleep.
For that massage this is my favorite pomade. You will
observe that in no preparation that I advise for the lips is
any camphor. I dislike camphor for the lips because it is
an astringent, and the mouth is too much inclined to pucker
into unlovely lines without its aid. Try this:

Oil of sweet almonds, 125 grams; white wax, 28 grams;
spermaceti, 28 grams; oil of bergamot, 1 gram; oil of ge-
ranium, 2 grams.

This softens the lips, effacing the tiny lines that form in
the lips, destroying their smooth surface, during the day.
It can be varied by another and simpler remedy:

Hydrated glycerine (50 per cent, water), 60 grams; rose-
water, 20 grams.

Do not use glycerine alone on the lips nor on any other
surface of the body. It is too drying. It has the power
to draw moisture from the skin, and that moisture should
by replaced by the water with which the glycerine is mixed.

Leaving the shape, we come to the color of the lips.
Preserve that by keeping the bodily health good. If the
circulation is defective the lips will be pale. If we become
ansemic, pallid lips will be one of the first signs of our
state. To make them healthily red improve the tone of the

CARE OF THE MOUTH AND TEETH

93

system by two means. Be sure to sleep enough. You
may need eight hours or nine. You yourself know which.
Take it.

Eat nourishing food. Eat often and lightly. That is
far better than to eat seldom and heartily. Better five light
than three heavy meals a day. Eat of meat sparingly, for
most meats are hard to digest. Once a day, and that at
dinner, is often enough. But depend greatly upon vege-
tables and eggs. Eggs have much iron in them. So, too,
have string beans, spinach and beets. Milk, too, is an ex-
cellent builder of new tissues.

If, after a fortnight, your lips are still pallid, try the
iron injections I have before recommended. Do this under
a physician’s directions and you will surely be vastly bene-
fited.

Mouth mannerisms are leaks of beauty. Self-conscious
young women draw down the corners of their mouths when
they talk or when they smile. They twist one corner of
the mouth downward, making the mouth one-sided. They
even suck the lips inward, spoiling the contour of the mouth.
They rub their faces with nervous fingers. They elevate
one eyebrow and pull down the other. They twist locks
of their hair. They play with folds of their gowns, or
with their desk ornaments. It is only the deeply learned
lesson that it is vulgar to play with articles on the table
that keeps them from drumming with their knives and forks
or twirling their plates.

This is deplorable, for it not only mars their beauty, but
shows an utter lack of inward calm. They must get into
a state of peace, must harmonize inward with outward
conditions. A dozen times a day they must say to them-
selves and must obey their own command : “ Peace, be
still.”

Talk, if you will, but don’t talk unless you have something
to say. Believe me, you can be interesting though silent,

94

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

by being an interested listener. Wild, aimless, excessively
excited talking is one of the biggest leaks of beauty.

The mouth, if too large, may be lightly massaged by
using the middle fingers of each hand to coax it toward the
greater fullness at the middle and less at the corners. If
it be too small, rotary massage from the corners of the
lips will tend to widen it.

If the chin be too strong, the jaw too heavy, as it is
sure to be in these latter days of new equality, the fact
can be rendered less glaring by dressing the hair well for-
ward above the forehead, so that there will be a semblance
of brow and chin being of equal weight, and the face seem
to be well balanced. If the chin is too weak the hair
should be well drawn back, so that the strength of the brow
will seem to make up the character deficit.

For lips that chap easily and always have a parched look
let me advise that this pomade be applied every night, freely
massaged into the lips :

Cocoa butter, 24 grams ; white wax, 4 grams ; oil of rose
geranium, 1 gram.

This should relieve an ordinary case. If it be an obsti-
nate one, suppose you try this remedy prescribed by the
famous Dr. Vaucaire, whose commandments are the deca-
logue of beauty-loving Paris :

Castor oil, 6 grams ; cocoa butter, 20 grams ; oil of birch,
4 drops ; extract of catechu, 2 grams ; essence of star anise,
10 drops.

To make rough lips smooth try this:

Oil of sweet almonds, 1 ounce; spermaceti, 1 ounce;
white wax, ^ ounce; oil of rose, 6 drops. Melt together
slowly, then work into a firm cream.

The gums should be of a healthy red. If they look pale
massage them gently for five minutes several times a day
with this compound:

Woundwort water, 100 grams; horseradish extract, 12

CARE OF THE MOUTH AND TEETH 95

grams ; oil of cloves, 1 drop. Dilute with an equal quantity
of water.

The wholesome woman tries to keep her breath as “ sweet
as the kine’s,” recalling the exclamation of Byron. She
keeps a jar of bicarbonate of soda on her bathroom shelf
and takes a teaspoonful in a glass of water whenever
needed. She always drinks two or three glasses of cool
water slowly on rising. This is because when the stomach
is in the tubular shape that it is in the morning it lends it-
self easily to the work done by the water, of cleansing the
stomach for its work of the day. To correct acid condi-
tions of mouth or stomach she takes a couple of unsweet-
ened charcoal tablets now and then, and this is her favorite
mouth pastille:

Unsweetened chocolate, ounces; white sugar, y2
ounce; charcoal powder, y2 ounce.

These are more easily taken if mixed to the consistency
of paste by the addition of dissolved gum arabic, cooled
and cut into tablets.

For the care and preservation of the teeth four things
are essential. They are : Proper diet, proper tooth brush,

proper tooth powders or pastes, and proper mouth baths.

But beyond any doubt the first safeguard is to have a
reliable, skillful dentist — if you can make sure of finding
one. One may go on for years with false confidence in a
dentist before one finds out her sad mistake.

I go to a dentist once a month to have my teeth exam-
ined. No one should let more than three months at most
pass without a visit to the dentist for an inspection of the
teeth.

The best dentist is none too good. The careless or ig-
norant or lazy or dishonest dentist may cause irreparable
damage. And the saddest part of it is that we are at the
mercy of the dentist, because we cannot know whether his
work is good or bad until the damage is done.

9 6

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

There often come on the teeth, particularly between them
where food is permitted to lodge, small dark stains, which
really are the first warnings or premonitory signs of decay.
If allowed to remain, the enamel eventually disintegrates,
and we have a cavity, which must then be excavated and
filled. Before this discoloration has advanced to an actual
breaking down of the tooth structure, it may very properly
and successfully be removed or polished away by the den-
tist’s engine and the sandpaper disc used for this purpose
and for smoothing gold fillings.

The honest dentist will do this, and restore the tooth to
its original color and soundness, after which it may be,
with care, indefinitely preserved, but the unscrupulous den-
tist may, of course, construe this suspicious-looking spot as
caries, and he may wickedly cut away sound tooth surface,
fill in with the customary unsightly gold or amalgam, and
the unsuspecting victim pays the bill and departs none the
wiser. Of course, in front teeth it is especially a misfor-
tune to make a cavity where it could have been avoided.

Let us consider now the diet. We must avoid extremes,
The English girl’s answer to the question, “ Why do you
have such beautiful complexions ? ” might as well have been
made to another query : “ Why do English girls have such

beautiful teeth?” The girl replied: “Because we never

eat anything very sweet or sour, nor anything very hot or
cold.” That is an excellent rule.

Whoever follows it will adopt an admirable dietary.
Also live if possible in a region whose soil is strongly im-
pregnated with lime.

That its soil is so strongly impregnated with lime is the
reason why the Bluegrass region of Kentucky is as famous
for the beauty of its women as of its horses. Much lime
in the soil means much lime in the products thereof, and
whoever eats of these products has strong bones and corre-
spondingly strong teeth. But we may not all live in Ken-

CARE OF THE MOUTH AND TEETH 97

tucky, and unfortunately there is not enough lime soil to
extend over the world. So we must make up for this lack
by careful attention to our diet.

Let me explain why the diet is of so great importance.
Those foods which contain lime strengthen the teeth.
Fifty-four and seven-tenths of the composition of tlie teeth
is phosphate of lime, when they are in normal condition.
To get as much lime as possible into the system, and so
into the teeth, is as necessary as to have as much iron as
possible in the framework of the house. The iron in the
framework of the house will resist fire. The lime in the
teeth will prevent their softening and decay.

Therefore, gluten and whole wheat bread and the cooked
cereals, instead of cakes and white bread and sweets, should
be eaten. These should be supplemented by various prep-
arations of phosphates to introduce lime into the system.
A simple lime water, which can be prepared by any house-
wife or any intelligent employe of a housewife, is one of
the best of these preparations:

Clean, unslacked lime, 1 teacupful ; water, 2 quarts. Put
the lime into a pitcher and pour the water over it. Stir the
mixture, or shake it until it looks like milk. Then pour off
the water. Fill the pitcher again with pure water. Again
stir or shake thoroughly. Tie over the pitcher a piece of
muslin to keep out the dust and possible floating germs.
Let it stand in a clean, cool place until the water is clear.
Pour the clear portion into clean, glass-stoppered bot-
tles.

Another method is to use a tablespoonful of lime water
in a tumbler of milk.

If the teeth are soft from deficiency of mineral salts or
sensitive from the presence of excessive acids the dose can
be increased to two or three tablespoon fuls.

It is well after eating acid fruits to rinse the mouth care-
fully two or three times with lime water or any alkaline

98

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

mouth wash. Or when the teeth have been irritated, or un-
pleasantly affected, or the gums irritated by a food or medi-
cine to which they are unaccustomed it is well to rub
precipitated chalk about the necks of the teeth and between
the teeth. It is well also to rinse the mouth with milk of
magnesia at night before retiring.

Again let me suggest that diet is of immense importance
for two reasons. If the diet be an unwise one it may create
an excess of uric acid, which makes itself manifest in the
mouth and causes the teeth to decay about the necks, that is,
the portion enclosed by the gums, a state to be avoided,
for the cavities thus formed are hard to reach and are the
most painful to be operated upon by the dentist.

Again, the diet is important because if there is an undue
fermentation or any other unwholesome condition in the
stomach the gases and acids arising from these discolor the
teeth.

Therefore, avoid, as I have said, articles of diet that are
very sweet or very sour, and articles of drink that are very
hot or very cold. For example, do not eat candy, pastry,
puddings, except those consisting chiefly of fruit; ices,
pickles or sour oranges or grape fruit. Do not drink sour
lemonade, nor limeade. Avoid ice water or very hot tea
or coffee. I am extremely careful about my diet, quite as
much for the care of my teeth as for my complexion.

As soon as I rise in the morning I place my tooth brush,
which should be soft and shaped to fit the teeth, in a mug
of hot water. I let it remain there for a half hour, until
Thave had my bath and my alcohol rub. This hint I re-
ceived from my dentist, who said that it would make the
bristles soft, besides swelling them so that they would fill
the spaces for them in the brush, and thus prevent the
bristles from loosening and detaching themselves from the
brush and irritating the gums.

Always use a good tooth powder or paste which a reli-

CARE OF THE MOUTH AND TEETH 99

able chemist has analyzed and pronounced pure. Simple,
pleasant and beneficial to gums and teeth is this:

Camphor gum, 1 ounce; precipitated chalk, 5 ounces;
pulverized orris root, 3 ounces.

A good variant of this is the following:

Precipitated chalk, y2 pound ; powdered starch, J4
pound; powdered orris root, J4 pound; sulphate of quinine,
34 dram.

One of my own favorite powders is made according to
this formula : Carbonate of magnesia, powdered, 3 ounces ;

powdered orris root, 1 ounce; powdered sugar, 1 ounce;
castile soap, J4 ounce; powdered precipitate of chalk, 10
ounces ; oil of roses, 25 drops ; oil of lemon, 5 drops ; oil of
wintergreen, 5 drops; tannin, 15 drops.

I recommend also this as helpful and agreeable:

Precipitated chalk, J4 pound ; powdered borax, 34
pound; powdered myrrh, J4 pound; powdered orris root,
>4 dram.

Another simple and effective preparation is this:

Powdered chalk, 2 ounces ; oil of peppermint, 2 drops.

A good antiseptic powder for occasional use I have found
to be this :

Bicarbonate of soda, 1 ounce; cinnamon, 1 ounce; oil of
cinnamon, 2 drops.

If my teeth are discolored I brush them thoroughly with
this powder:

Sugar of milk, 200 grams ; powdered catechu, 3 grams ;
oil of peppermint, 4 drops ; oil of anise, 4 drops ; oil of
orange flower, 4 drops. Pour into the sugar of milk a
few drops of alcohol. Add the catechu, stirring them thor-
oughly. Sift them through bolting cloth and sprinkle the
oil of peppermint, the oil of anise and the oil of orange
flower into the powder.

Another which is less expensive, and is also excellent, is
this :

100

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

Precipitated chalk, 500 grams ; pulverized orris root, 250
grams; pulverized camphor gum, 12 grams; alcohol (95
per cent.), 10 drops. This should be sifted through bolting
cloth to remove lumps that might irritate the gums.

It has always been my habit to use powder only once a
day and that in the morning. I think it enough, because too
much tooth powder in time wears away the enamel. Yet
my dentist tells me that the best time to use tooth powder
is at night, because the salivary glands, being quiet during
sleep, when we do not talk or eat, do not then secrete the
saliva, whose flow has a cleansing action.

After each meal I use dental floss, drawing it between
the teeth to remove any particles of food that may have
lodged between them. Hard toothpicks are liable to crack
the enamel. Also I give the mouth a bath, that is, I thor-
oughly rinse it several times with a good mouth wash.

Of preparations for liquid dentifrices and mouth baths
there is no end. This, “ the bath of roses,” is my favorite,
and I rinse my mouth with it after each meal and before
retiring :

Tincture of orris root, 8 drams; spirit of roses, 8 fluid
drams; alcohol, 95 per cent., 8 fluid drams.

An agreeable preparation for a mouth bath is made of :

Powdered borax, 3 drams; honey water, 2 ounces; cas-
tile soap (powdered), 1 ounce; warm water, 1 pint; oil of
cloves, 2 drops.

Dissolve the powdered soap in the warm water. Add the
other ingredients and shake well.

Either of the following washes will be found excellent
for the teeth :

Tannic acid, 1 ounce; oil of wintergreen, 1 dram; pow-
dered orris root, 4 ounces; alcohol, 4 ounces; water, 4
ounces.

Tincture of orris root, 1 ounce; tincture of musk, 4
drops; oil of rose, 2 drops; oil of neroli, 4 drops; oil of

CARE OF THE MOUTH AND TEETH ioi

peppermint, 4 drops ; oil of spearmint, 4 drops ; oil of ylang
ylang, 1 drop; alcohol, 3 ounces; water, 8 ounces.

Here is one which, besides being agreeable, has a me-
dicinal value in being a disinfectant :

Thymol, 3 grains; alcohol, 3 ounces; benzoic acid, 40
grains; tincture of eucalyptus, 3 drams; essence winter-
green, 5 drops.

Easily obtainable, too, is this and very soothing to irri-
tated gums:

Permanganate of potash, 10 grains; distilled water, 1
ounce.

Another simple mouth wash which I have frequently
employed with good results is made as follows:

Chlorate of potash, 2 drams ; rosewater, 6 ounces.

For a mouth bath after a meal a solution made by add-
ing a tablespoonful of bicarbonate of soda to a tumbler of
water is useful.

Use dental floss more and the toothbrush less. The
toothbrush should be soft and should be shaped to adapt
itself to the teeth. It should slant toward the front, with
a tuft on the end so that the bristles can work their way
into all the crevices between the teeth.

I am glad that toothpicks have come to be classed with
vulgar things. A member of Parliament at a dinner in
London played nervously with his toothpick and thrust the
end of it into his finger. The toothpick had harbored some
dangerous microbe, for the statesman had to have two fin-
gers amputated. The danger of infection from toothpicks
is great. Dental floss being protected from vagrant germs
by its casing, and the end being cut off as soon as used, is
much safer, besides being less irritant to the tender gums.

If the teeth are not straight, have them straightened. If
there are wide spaces between them have them drawn
closer together. Dentists can do this by fastening rubber
bands about the neck of the teeth. It is tedious and pain-

102

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

ful, but it is worth while. For a tiny space, but an undue
one between the teeth, may change the natural expression
of the face. I know an American statesman, whose face
is of the strong, noble lines of a statue of granite, but who
takes on a fatuous expression when he smiles, because there'
is a considerable space between his two upper front teeth.
After the teeth are drawn into their proper place, they are
secured by small bands of gold or by a rod at the back of
the teeth.

If the teeth are permanently discolored it may be because
you need a dentist’s services. It is well to call on him at
least every three months. Every two months is still bet-
ter. His examination will show any fault in the teeth that
may be a tiny one, but which if neglected for three months
longer would be troublesome. Frequent visits to conscien-
tious dentists are best for your teeth and best for your
purse.

The teeth are the most important of the appointments, the
furnishings, so to speak, of the mouth. They must be kept
perfect at all costs of care and forethought. But they, like
all portions of a woman’s body, must be delicately treated.
Tooth powder should not be used more than once a day.
And that in the morning. For the rest dental floss and a
delicate liquid dentrifice after each meal and before retiring.

CHAPTER VIII

DUTIES EVERY WOMAN OWES TO HER HAIR

IT is Monday, and I note that my hair does not respond
readily to the brush; that it lies lifeless under my fin-
gers; that instead of being a live, bushy, glowing mass, it
has diminished to a wisp scarcely larger than my two fin-
gers. It is as though some witch in a rage had plucked it,
hair by hair, from my head as I slept.

But that has happened too often to give me alarm. Once
I wept over it. I thought that I was to become as the
shiny-headed men that sit in the first rows of the opera and
stare and stare. But that was long ago. Now I know
when my hair shows these symptoms that it is dead, but
only temporarily, and that with care I can resurrect it,
make it live again.

With this lifeless condition of the hair I have always
found two corresponding conditions of the scalp. The
scalp is hot and dry. Also, the brushing reveals dandruff
— light, fine and profuse. It is a condition that must be
corrected.

First remove the dandruff. Hair cannot thrive when
that fine, light powder lies upon the scalp, obstructing its
pores. To rid one’s self of it the hair must be washed, not
once but often. I resolve upon washing it every day for a
week. I choose the time when I have had my bath. In
the water I have dissolved half a cake of the best soap I
can get. If upon analysis it is proven to be made of sper-
maceti all the better. I always have a new soap analyzed,
as I do a new cold cream.

103

104

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

I part my hair, and, dipping a small brush the size of an
ordinary toothbrush into the water, rub the parting vigor-
ously. I part it again, and rub that parting, and the next,
and the next, scrubbing it, as you say in this country, stren-
uously with the brush dipped in soapy water.

When this has been done I empty the bowl, and in a sec-
ond water, in which the other half of the cake of soap is
dissolved, I wash the hair again, but this time rub the scalp,
not with the brush, but with my fingers. Then again and
again and again, until the water is as clean as when it runs
from the faucet, I rinse the hair.

Now comes the problem of drying it. The hair that is
dried in the hot funnel becomes brittle and cracks. If it is
dried by draughts of cold air its owner contracts neuralgia.
It should be dried first by a brisk toweling. The towel
should be rubbed quickly through the hair and upon the
scalp, taking the first dripping stage of moisture from each
of them. The rest of the drying should be done by the
heat of the hands. With the tips of the fingers every bit
of space on the scalp should be rubbed until dry.

As the scalp dries the hair dries, too. Last, that the hair
may not hang together in matted strands, but stand fluffily,
each hair for itself, there should be the last stage of the
drying. This is the rubbing of the hair, strand by strand,
between the hands. Even this one shampoo will prove
that the hair that seemed to be dead is, after all, very much
alive.

After the drying the hair should, of course, be brushed
— adequately brushed. But there are curious ideas among
women in this country as to what is adequate brushing.
American friends of mine give the hair one hundred, even
two hundred, strokes. I think this is too many. Exces-
sive brushing drags upon the hair and loosens its roots.
Forty-strokes of the brush I believe to be quite enough.
Less brushing, more massaging, is what is needed by all

DUTIES TO THE HAIR

105

heads, especially the heads on which the hair is thinning.

After the forty strokes of the brush there should be
massage. Dry massage always. If yon begin with dry
fingers you will find that your fingers soon become oily.
The sebaceous glands yield their contents quickly to the
pressure of fingers, and the released oil softens the hair and
sets the tide of growth pouring into it.

It js well at this time to give the hair a sun and air bath.
The hair is precious, a splendid frame for the face, and
you can afiford to give much time to saving it. Sit or stand
near an open window. Let the sunshine pour its tonic into
your hair. Let the air sweep through and about it. It
will respond to the treatment as an invalid to his first drive
after a long illness.

Let the hair rest as much as possible. Decline invita-
tions, or, if you have accepted them, cancel the engage-
ments. You can dispense with a few perfunctory meetings
and greetings, a cup or two of tea, rather than with so im-
portant a part of your beauty as shining, healthful hair.
Remain in your boudoir, with your hair loosened, and hang-
ing. When it is necessary to be visible to the world wear
it in a somewhat different way, and use fewer hairpins.

On Tuesday I would use a different and more stimulat-
ing shampoo:

Pure liquid soap, 100 grams ; carbonate of potassium, 20
grams; distilled water, 2 liters. These should be boiled
until the soap is dissolved, then let cool. When cool add
from 200 to 500 grains of tincture of vanilla or other
favorite perfume.

A handful of this shampoo in a bowl of warm water will
cleanse the hair of any dust it may have accumulated since
Monday. The hair is now thoroughly clean. The next
step is to simulate it. For this purpose use the camomile
mixture, made as follows:

Two handfuls of camomile; two quarts of water. Boil

io6

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

until the mixture is as black as after-dinner coffee.
Usually fifteen minutes are quite enough. Pour it into
two more quarts of cold water and place in a gallon jar.

Massage the scalp with it after the shampoo. This is a
favorite preparation in France. There no grease nor oil
is used on the hair.

To encourage the hair to grow an application of a good
quinine mixture is a great aid. During the afternoon of
the second day that I go into seclusion for my hair's sake I
massage the scalp lightly with such a tonic. Or I apply it
before going to bed. Many of the quinine mixtures sold
in the drug stores I have used with good effect, after hav-
ing had them analyzed by chemists.

Here is a preparation which a friend becoming bald used
to secure a splendid new lot of hair. Were I in so serious
a state I might also use it:

Precipitated sulphur, io grams; alcohol (95 per cent.),

10 grams ; distilled water, 50 grams ; rosewater, 50 grams.

And here is another which, were my case radical, I would

use:

Alcohol (95 per cent.), 100 grams; acetone, 100 grams;

011 of cade, 10 grams; precipitated sulphur, 20 grams;
pyrogallic acid, 2 grams ; chrysophanic acid, 20 centigrams ;
bichloride of mercury, 40 centigrams.

On Wednesday I would do that which ordinarily I should
do but twice or three times a year — I would singe the ends
of my hair. Then again I would shampoo it with the
preparation for which I gave the first recipe, and would
again give it the tonic of air and sun bath. x

And again I would use the camomile, but if one prefers
to have the aid of the druggist here is a preparation that is
much used in London with great satisfaction. I shall give
it in the English measure :

Resorcine, I dram; chloral hydrate, 3 drams; sweet

DUTIES TO THE HAIR 107

almond oil, 1 dram; chloroform, 6 drams; eau de cologne,
6 ounces.

On Thursday, if my hair is not showing great improve-
ment, I may vary my shampoo. Here is an excellent
cleansing one:

Extract of witch hazel, 1 pint ; eau de cologne, 8 ounces ;
chloroform, 3 drams.

On Friday and Saturday I would repeat this shampoo,
the massage and the sun and air bath.

By Sunday, with every morning a shampoo, a massage of
the scalp for fifteen minutes — not long enough to irritate
the nerves — and the sun and air baths and the repose, one’s
hair should be excellently vigorous. If the rigorous treat-
ment should have caused it to be too straight I would en-
courage it to curl by the application of rosewater and gum
arabic in these quantities:

Gum arabic, 100 grams ; rosewater, 400 grams.

Always in brushing the hair the strokes should be back-
ward, straight back, instead of to the sides, for in that way
the hair is aided to grow low on the forehead, which is a
most desirable mark of beauty.

Before retiring I always braid my hair in two loose braids.
I never use curling irons when I can avoid it. Use them
cautiously. Better not at all, especially if your hair have a
natural wave.

If your hair persistently continues to fall out, it is prob-
ably because of a generally lowered tone of your health.
I should then resort to iron or arsenic hypodermic injec-
tions under the direction of a physician. When I have
suffered from nervous exhaustion I have always taken this
treatment at a physician’s prescription. I have found the
iron particularly upbuilding. I would receive an injection
every day for ten days, then rest three or four days, then
begin again for another ten days until seven weeks have

io8 MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

gone. Always at the end of that time I have felt reju-
venated.

And after my complexion my hair was the first to im-
prove. Never attempt this without medical direction, I
repeat. The injections of iron I preferred to taking it in-
ternally, thereby saving the teeth from the bad effects of the
iron. Also the administering of medicines in this way pre-
vents an unpleasant disturbance of the stomach.

If there be an unconquerable objection to the injections
a physician will prescribe cod liver oil, or tablets containing
quinine and phosphorus that are a tonic to the system.

If the hair be prematurely gray I should first take a
general treatment for the system, hoping that the gray hair
would fall out and a crop of natural color appear. Or if
I could gain my own consent to dye my hair, I should go
to a druggist’s and ask for a safe solution of henna. This
is the one hair dye which I can recommend. It is harm-
less, but its range of usefulness is limited for it only dyes
the hair red. It is prepared like this :

Henna leaves, i ounce ; boiling water, 2 pints ; henna
powder, 1 ounce. Place the henna leaves in a stone jar.
Pour over them the water. Allow the liquid to stand un-
disturbed for twelve hours. Then strain and heat until it
reaches the boiling point. To the liquid add the henna
powder. Stir thoroughly and strain once more. The hair
must be thoroughly clean when it is applied, so the best
time to apply it is immediately after a shampoo.

But do not place too much reliance upon the henna.
Look to the state of your general health and be sure to keep
the scalp cool, clean and moist. If this is done the next
crop of hair — for we raise new hair every three years, you
know — may come in the former natural color and the
former unwelcome gray may disappear before the new
crop. Use a good hair tonic to bring about that condition

DUTIES TO THE HAIR 109

of the scalp. This is one that has been long and success-
fully used:

Glycerine, 2 ounces ; alcohol, 1 pint ; sulphate of quinine,
1 dram; oil of cloves, y2 dram; oil of lemon, 4 ounces;
oil of bergamot, 1 ounce.

This, too, deserves recommendation:

Castor oil, 1 gill ; alcohol, 3 pints ; tincture of cantharides,
y2 ounce ; borax, 2 ounces ; water, 2 ounces ; oil of lavender,
iy2 ounces. Shake well before using.

The wholesome woman has thick, lustrous, clean hair.
I am sorry to say that it is necessary to use this last com-
monplace adjective. But some women there are who neg-
lect the hair until it does not deserve to be so described.

“ She has such clean hair,” a man said to me of an
American girl who is much admired. When I saw the girl
I knew his appraisement was just. Her hair was clean.
It was thick, light brown and slightly curling hair, just the
sort that a careless person might neglect, saying, as I have
heard women say, “ Mine is the kind of hair that takes care
of itself.”

But this girrs hair was as clean as her radiant young
face. One received the impression that her hair, as all the
rest of her person, had as close neighbor the bath.

And so it is. Her hair being light, she washes it at
least once a week in borax water, made by dissolving an
ounce of borax in a quart of warm water.

Borax is somewhat drying, and if she finds her scalp
growing too dry she massages the scalp twelve hours be-
fore the shampoo with this:

Oil of sweet almonds, 45 grams ; essence of rosemary,
45 grams ; oil of mace, ^ gram.

If the wholesome woman find her hair growing pre-
maturely gray, and this she is not at all liable to do, for
gray hair is a sign of anaemia, and from this the healthy

no

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

woman rarely suffers, she makes her life more than ever
wholesome. She lives out of doors the more. She takes
more regular sleep and more nourishing food. She is more
than ever punctual and thorough as to her exercise. And
having done all these she may assist nature with this rem-
edy, which her less wholesome sister has used with suc-
cess, to arrest the turning gray of her hair:

Good claret, 30 grams; sulphate of iron, y2 gram. To
use the cook’s parlance, “ Bring these to a boil.” Keep in
a well corked jar in a cold place and wash the hair with it
after each shampoo. If necessary it can be used two or
three times a week. Permit the mixture to dry on the hair.

Here is another wash that has proved successful when
the hair was turning gray:

Sulphur, 2 ounces; bay rum, 8 ounces.

Sulphur to a degree strengthens the pigment — that is,
the natural coloring matter of the hair. Use the sulphur
in lumps, for it will not adhere to the scalp as will sulphur
in the powder state.

If the case be beyond such relief a French dressing,
which those who use it disdain to call a dye, is used by
brunettes whose hair has turned prematurely gray:

White wax, 2 ounces; olive oil, 5 ounces; burnt cork
(powdered fine), 1 ounce. The white wax and oil should
be melted together over a slow fire. Add the burnt cork
and mix well. The mixture should be applied to the hair
as a pomade, and thoroughly brushed in.

Here is a good corrective for falling hair:

Oil of sweet almonds, 2 ounces; alcohol, 2 gills; aqua
ammonia, 2 ounces; good whiskey or rum, 4 ounces; gum
camphor, % ounce. Shake thoroughly each time before
using and rub thoroughly into the scalp. Massage your
scalp well, so that you can feel the skin of the scalp
move.

For a scalp that is too oily use borax or bicarbonate of

DUTIES TO THE HAIR

in

soda in the weekly shampoo. A blonde of my acquaint-
ance believes that the juice of one lemon used in the last
rinsing water after a shampoo adds to the brilliance of her
hair while also drying it enough to make it “ fluffy.”
Allow your hair to be straight, if Nature planned it so.
Find some becoming method of wearing it straight. If
the ends have become broken and the hair is thin and un-
even set about raising a new and stronger crop. But first
prepare the soil for the new crop by cleansing your scalp
with frequent shampoos, one every other day if necessary,
and by using on it a good oil. Olive oil is an admirable
agent for loosening and feeding a heat-dried scalp. Have
the ends singed or clipped. Massage the scalp every day,
unless it is too tender to endure massage that often. Irri-
tating the nerves, which protest against such treatment, does
far more harm than good. A few applications of electricity
by a physician familiar with your case should stimulate
the anaemic scalp.

A few years ago there were almost no good hair tonics.
Now there are many. Almost any tonic containing a liberal
amount of quinine is a good hairgrower. Here is one much
used in Paris:

Oil of almonds, 6 ounces; oil of rosemary, 2 drams; oil
of mace, 60 drops.

An excellent tonic for the scalp is:

Alcohol, pint ; oil of mace, 14 ounce.

One that has many advocates is this:

Fluid extract of jaborandi, ounce; glycerine, I ounce;
sulphate of quinine, io grains; cologne, 2 ounces; rose-
water, 10 ounces; bay rum, 2 ounces.

The wash that has tonic properties in addition to being
an excellent cleanser is made as follows:

Precipitated sulphur, 10 grams; alcohol (95 per cent.), 10
grams ; distilled water, 50 grams ; rosewater, 50 grams. Ap-
ply it to the scalp as all other tonics are applied with the

1 12 MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

tips of the fingers or a soft brush, for instance, an old tooth
brush.

This tonic will keep the scalp cool, clean and moist and
help prevent the hair falling out :

Tincture of cantharides (alcoholic), I ounce; spirits of
rosemary, il/2 ounces; rose water, 3 ounces; aromatic vine-
gar, 1 y2 ounces.

Parisiennes have recently been washing their hair in
gasoline. Not because they believe that it will cause the
hair to grow, but for the same purpose that it is used upon
a spotted garment — to cleanse the garment and remove the
spots. Also gasoline makes the hair soft and silken of
texture, I am told.

I have myself used gasoline a few times on my hair,
but always try to keep it away from the scalp as much
as possible. I cannot believe that gasoline is good for
the scalp.

I take the gasoline shampoo somewhat as I do the water
bath for the hair. I wash it in a bowl of the gasoline, pour
out the first bowlful and wash it through another, then an-
other, until the last bowlful is entirely clean. Let as little
gasoline as possible get to the scalp. But the shampoo is
always taken on the morning of a clear day. Never do I
have it done while there is a light or fire in the room. If
I did, there would be no more Lina Cavalieri. Gasoline is
most inflammable and one cannot be too careful when
using it.

Never use vaseline on the hair, never, never. It is not'
harmful. It is merely useless. It no more makes the hair
grow than would sprinkling flour over the face make it
grow. It is derived from a mineral, and nothing of mineral
origin causes the hair to grow. I never use grease on the
hair. After the shampoo, once a week, I use the camomile
lotion I have already described, rubbing it in carefully
with the points of the fingers, and on no account permit-

DUTIES TO THE HAIR

ii3

ting it to touch the face, because it will make the face yel-
low. This cleanses the hair and tones the scalp, promoting
circulation.

Hair to be really beautiful should not lie in heavy, sticky
bands, but should stand out hair by hair, as separate as the
down of a little chicken. To acquire this use ten drops
of ammonia sprinkled in the camomile. It must be added
after the mixture has boiled and cooled, otherwise the am-
monia will evaporate.

This is the favorite preparation now used in France. No
beauty nor fashionable woman ever uses oil upon her hair.
By keeping it frequently massaged and thoroughly brushed
she permits it to develop its own oil.

The Egyptian women have the most beautiful hair in the
world. This they owe to henna. Sprinkle enough henna
in the water to make it the color of coffee. Part the hair
in little strands and, with a small handbrush dipped into it,
rub the scalp.

The hair, so beautiful at its best, so disappointing and
even disfiguring at its worst, has many foes. The greatest
of these is the extreme heat of midsummer. Under the
midsummer sun’s rays the hair’s rich hue is liable to fade.
The country roads powder their dust finely upon it. The
heat parches the scalp or causes it to perspire excessively,
and each of these evils, separately considered, seems worse
than the other. Their results are the same, and the hair
rapidly grows thinner.

If you are spending your vacation at the seashore be-
ware of the action of the salt water upon your hair. If
your hair has been splashed in the surf rinse it thor-
oughly with fresh water as soon as you leave the beach.
Be sure that no particles of sea salt adhere to it, for salt,
so healing and tonic for most of the body, is the contrary
for the hair.

Keep your scalp in such condition that two words, “ Cool ”

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

114

and “ Clean,” will always describe it. If the scalp be cool
and clean the hair will be beautiful. If the scalp be not
cool and clean the hair will speedily reveal that fact. How
to keep it so during the summer is a problem that every
woman must be careful to solve according to her surround-
ings and facilities. But somehow she must attain that end
if she would preserve the beauty of her hair.

Keep it free from dust. To do so it must be frequently
shampooed — twice as often, I should say, as in the winter.
If, for instance, it is your habit to wash your hair every
two weeks in winter, try washing it every week in summer.
If it has required a weekly shampoo in winter you will un-
doubtedly find it necessary to wash it twice a week in mid-
summer. But you must judge that yourself, keeping before
you the two words “ Cool ” and “ Clean,” which should
always be your guides. When the dust from the hair soils
the fingers and brush it is time for a shampoo even though
for a time the hair must be washed every day. The ob-
servant one will notice that so soon as the hair is unclean
it falls out.

Also, she will observe that an itching scalp precedes al-
most immediately the falling out of the hair. With these
object lessons in cleanliness she should resolve to be vigi-
lant. Spare the shampoo and spoil the hair.

A good shampoo, especially for an itching scalp, con-
tains beside the usual borax for softening the water, and
the castile soap for cleansing the scalp these:

White of 2 eggs; juice of 2 lemons. Apply by rubbing
the whites of the eggs thoroughly into the scalp with the
tips of the fingers. After this application moisten the scalp
thoroughly with the lemon juice diluted in one quart of
cool water.

For the usual shampoo under ordinary circumstances the
essentials are:

DUTIES TO THE HAIR

115

Warm water, 2 quarts; castile soap (shaven), cake;
borax, 1 teaspoonful.

I have heard women say : “ I washed my hair yesterday

and to-day it is as bad as ever.” If that is true it is your
own fault. You did not give it a thorough shampoo. For
a thorough shampoo care and nicety are necessary.

First prepare the water for a head bath by pouring into
the stationary wash stand, or the portable washbowl or
basin, the soap shavings. Over these pour a quart of hot
water. With hands or a long handled spoon stir until the
soap has dissolved and the substance has become mere
lather. Part the hair, which I assume has previously been
well combed, from the top of the middle of the forehead
to the back of the neck. Make similar partings at the
sides, and transverse partings here and there, as many as
possible. With the finger tips, or with a soft, old nail brush,
scrub the scalp with this lather. In this way go over the
scalp several times, until it tingles under your very touch,
and the skin is loosened from the scalp beneath. When
a fine glow convinces you that this part of the task is well
done attack your hair.

Dip your hands into the lather and taking the hair be-
tween them, wash it thoroughly but carefully with light
touch as you would a fine handkerchief. When this has
been thoroughly done empty the bowl and wash the hair
through a second water. If, to use the hair dresser’s ex-
pression, the “ water runs clear ” you will know that the
hair is thoroughly washed. If the water is dark, showing
that the lather has not thoroughly removed the dust apply
more lather. Then again wash it in cool water. The
rinsing is best done with a spray. It should be con-
tinued until the water pouring off the hair is as clean
as when it flows from the hydrant. The clearness
of the rinsing water is the only criterion of whether the hair

n6

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

is clean. The rinsing water should be gradually cooled,
but it should never be cold. It is my opinion that cold
water is too severe a shock to the scalp.

Dry the hair as carefully as you have washed it. Never
dry with a hot air funnel, nor at a radiator nor fireplace
nor stove. The intense heat makes the hair brittle. A
good brisk toweling is a method always available. If you
haven’t time to dry the hair by toweling wait for the sham-
poo until you have time.

If you can sun dry it so much the better. Seated at an
open window shake the moisture out of the hair and as it
slowly dries massage the scalp with the fingers. The proc-
ess of drying will be aided and neuralgia prevented by
vigorous massage of the scalp.

This is an excellent time for the hair’s daily airing. The
hair needs ventilation as well as your room, your lingerie,
or your bed linen. Every day it should be shaken out and
allowed to blow about in the wind. A balcony of a summer
cottage is admirable for this purpose.

I know an English beauty who always gives her hair
its airing as she sits under an old apple tree in the back
yard of her father’s home. A friend of mine shakes her
hair down and, sitting on the deck of her husband’s yacht,
lets the wind play hide and seek in it every afternoon. An-
other friend returning by steamship from her vacation trip
to Maine sat up aloft and tumbling her hair about her
shoulders let the wind whip it at will.

Form the habit of always letting your hair down when
you sit alone in your room. This half hour or hour’s air-
ing gives the hair exercise as well. When a hair hangs by
its roots it is gaining the strength it loses while the hair
is being supported upon the head by pins.

If the treatment of the hair has passed the stage of pre-
vention and reached that of cure, dry, falling hair can be
helped by this variant of the shampoo I have described :

DUTIES TO THE HAIR

n 7

Castile soap, y2 cake; borax (powdered), 4 teaspoon f uls ;
bay rum, 1 ounce; Italian pink, 20 drops; warm water, 1
quart.

A dry shampoo available for blondes, but which would
leave unbecoming traces in dark hair, is :

Cornmeal, 2 ounces; orris root (powdered), 1 ounce.
This shaken well into the hair and brushed out carries much
of the dust with it, as does French chalk when brushed
upon and off a soiled frock. This I commend in an
emergency, but only then, for it does not clean the scalp as
does the liquid shampoo.

Another shampoo that has been successfully used to check
the falling of hair contains:

Borax, 2 tablespoonfuls ; salts of tartar, 2 drams ; almond
oil, 2 ounces; Italian pink, 12 drops.

For dry hair this tonic is one of the best :

Sweet almond oil, 3 ounces; oil of rosemary, 1 ounce;
oil of bergamot, 10 drops.

If dandruff afflict you in midsummer look first to your
brushes. If you have neglected to keep them scrupulously
clean begin to do so. Dip them whenever the least soiled
into:

Hot water, 1 quart ; violet ammonia, 1 ounce.

Place the brushes on the window sill to dry. Turn the
brushes upon their sides so that they will dry quickly, and
the bristles will remain firm.

Brush the hair thoroughly night and morning. Use a
blunt edged, large toothed comb. Do not scrape the scalp.
Make your diet during this time chiefly of fruit and vege-
tables. Apply also this lotion:

Borax, 3 tablespoon f uls ; rosemary (best), 3 ounces;
steep in one quart of boiling water. When cold add y2
ounce of glycerine and 30 drops of cologne.

If the hair be moist use one tablespoonful of borax in a
shampoo two or three times a week.

n8

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

While in your room give the hair plenty of rest and ex-
ercise. Both are provided by brushing the hair and letting
it hang loose as long as possible in the sun and air baths.
Usually the hair needs in summer at least one shampoo a
week, unless the hair be extraordinarily dry. One of the
best shampoos is made very simply:

Shaved castile soap, i ounce; hot water, I quart.

For a dry shampoo this is good for moist scalps :

Alcohol (95 per cent.), 1 quart; table salt, 1 ounce; qui-
nine, 1-6 ounce.

If you pass your holiday at the seashore you will wel-
come a formula that will keep the hair in curl. Here is
one of the best I know:

Gum arabic, y2 ounce; carbonate of potash, y2 ounce;
glycerine, y2 ounce; rosewater, 1 pint; Portugal extract, 2
ounces.

Fortunate are you, indeed, if you come back from your
summer outing with hair thick and lustrous, and scalp cool
and loose skinned as when you left. But even if you have
achieved this, your hair is certain to be faded, for the sun’s
rays while stimulating to the scalp, diminish the richness
of the hue of the hair.

The probability is that the scalp has been dried by the
heat and dust. Massage with cocoanut oil or the following
tonic :

Sweet almond oil, 3 ounces; oil of cinnamon, 30 drops;
oil of rosemary, 1 ounce.

Let me tell you of an experience which taught me much
about the hair. I was invited to an informal house party.
Arriving at an early hour in the morning I was met in the
hall by my charming hostess. She was as lovely as ever,
but there was something odd about her, something un-
usual.

She laughed at the puzzled look in my face. “ You are

DUTIES TO THE HAIR

119

bewildered,” she said. “ I look different, but you do not
know how. It is this. I am resting my hair.”

“ Wonderful woman ! ” I cried. “ It is the great Amer-
ican common sense.”

Then I saw that her lovely blond hair, short, as is all
curling hair, rested about her shoulders in a golden shower.
It was parted in the middle. She had always worn it in
a pompadour or some modification of the pompadour. Now
it was parted in the middle, and combed as smoothly as
its rebellious luxuriance would permit away from that part,
and flat upon the top of the head. Glistening from its
recent brushing it hung about her shoulders, fresh combed,
fresh brushed, and with the faintest odor of a cleansing
tonic hanging about it. It had no ribbon about it. No
hairpin confined it. It was free. It was resting after the
nine months’ toil of a fashionable season.

“ Every morning,” she said, “ it has had a thorough
combing and slight brushing. Every night a slight combing
and thorough brushing. The first week I gave it a sham-
poo every day. I continued until the last trace of dan-
druff was gone. A sun-dried shampoo, of course. Every
other sort, except the toweling, I consider barbarous and
destructive to the hair. Every afternoon when the sun
shone in my bedroom window I have let down my hair
and sat where the breeze and sunshine came through the
open window. Sitting there I have taken my hair between
my palms and, strand by strand, have rubbed it lightly un-
til every hair has had its burnishing. When this was done
I shook it out loosely between my thumb and forefingers
so that the wind and sun could reach every part of the hair
and scalp.”

My friend’s hair had made almost instant response to
the treatment. From being dead hair it had become live
as a galvanic battery. From being dull and faded it had

120

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

become rich and glistening. All over her scalp was the
fine first fuzz of a new crop of hair. And the old galvan-
ized hair had grown an inch longer in one month.

She had experimented with various lotions or dry sham-
poos. This she found the greatest cleanser and tonic for
her hair:

Peruvian bark (powdered), 3 ounces; rum, 1 pint.

Another aid to this summer rest of the hair was a new
brush. She showed it to me. It was a plain wooden
backed hair brush, with the bristles set well into the back
in groups. The bristles in these groups were irregular,
in order that they might reach all parts of the head, the
long ones penetrating the hair where it was thickest, the
short ones sufficing for the parts where it was thinnest.

She adjured vaseline, as I have advised my readers to
do. It is a mineral oil and cannot cause the hair to grow.
Instead, she rubs olive oil or beef marrow well into the
roots of the hair at night, softening the scalp and fertiliz-
ing a dry area.

Also she varied these treatments with this which, being
a woman of wide reading, she had copied from The Lancet :

Alcohol (95 per cent.), 4 ounces; quinine, 15 grains;
castor oil, *4 ounce.

Careful to massage the head gently every night after its
brushing, she kept the scalp loose. When it was hot she
cooled it by applications of cracked ice in an ice cap. She
shunned the tempting fine tooth comb, that removes dan-
druff, it is true, but perpetrates atrocities upon the scalp
as painful and disfiguring as scratches upon the face.
Once a month she had her hair singed, before a shampoo.

Her greatest concession to the conventions was the slip-
ping over her shining, well curried mane a net of exactly
the same shade, which she wore at dinner, “a token of
respect for the soup and butter, merely ,” she explained.

One hundred strokes every evening before retiring are

DUTIES TO THE HAIR

121

necessary if the hair be of vigorous constitution. If deli-
cate there is danger of its being torn from the roots by too
strong strokes of the brush and too many of these and the
number of strokes can be considerably lessened.

Brushing removes the dust, but is not sufficient stimulant
for the scalp, which needs, beside brushing, massage. The
most beautiful hair I know is that of a young woman who
gives her scalp a thorough massage three times a week with
a good hair tonic. This, her favorite tonic, I publish here
for the use of such of my readers as are blondes. It con-
tains one ingredient, bicarbonate of soda, whose tendency
is to make the hair a lighter shade. Therefore, I do not
use it myself nor would I recommend it for any other
brunette :

Borax, i ounce ; bicarbonate of soda, y2 ounce ; camphor,

1 dram; glycerine, y2 ounce; rosewater, I quart; alcohol,

2 ounces. The camphor should be dissolved in the alco-
hol. The soda, glycerine, rosewater and alcohol should be
mixed and well shaken in another bottle. Then pour this
mixture into the solution of camphor. Apply with the
finger tips, or a soft brush, parting the hair and rubbing the
tonic thoroughly into the scalp, until it makes response by
a healthful tingling.

A former method of scalp massage was to rub it hap-
hazard with the tips of the fingers. From Europe has come
a later and more scientific method. It consists in treating
the scalp as though it were composed of circular terraces,
treating each terrace at a time separately by pressing the
cushions of the fingers firmly upon the scalp all the way
round the terrace, beginning with that which is the first
or the outer and working toward the center. This pressure
achieves that for which massage of the scalp was invented.
It loosens the skin from the scalp, permitting free circula-
tion about the roots of the hair.

For a brunette my preference is for this:

1 22

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

Sulphate of quinine, 20 grains ; fluid extract of jaborandi,
1 ounce; glycerine, 2 ounces; cologne, 4 ounces; bay rum,
4 ounces ; rosewater, 20 ounces.

The above is excellent also for hair that is too dry. For
moist hair I advise a dry shampoo or tonic treatment of
this :

Eau de cologne, 4 ounces; borax, J4. ounce; tincture of
cochineal, y2 ounce.

Some blondes whom I know use the following methods
to keep their hair light:

Washing soda, 2 tablespoonfuls; water, 1 quart. Dis-
solve the soda in the water and give the hair a thorough
shampoo with the mixture once a week if needed, less often
if necessary. The susceptibility of the hair to treatment
determines the number of the treatments.

A half dozen drops of ammonia in shampoo should keep
the hair light. Also one teaspoonful of peroxide of hydro-
gen in one quart of water will lighten without injuring the
hair.

Bear in mind that whatever makes the hair dry makes
it brittle, and use any preparation discreetly, studying the
effect of one or two applications on the hair.

Remember that headache is one of the greatest foes of
the hair. When my scalp is feverish I sometimes apply
a rubber cap filled with cracked ice for a half an hour or
longer, until the congestion is removed.

Never retire without brushing your hair. The hair is
a dust trap, and no dainty woman would retire without
removing the day’s accumulation of dust. The brush tells
its own story of the day’s catch of dust, if you take the
trouble to examine it. After brushing the hair, loosen the
skin from the scalp by slow, firm massage, pressing the skin
toward the crown.

This is the best time to apply a hair tonic. A good hair
tonic is made of:

DUTIES TO THE HAIR

123

Oil of mace, 2 grams; essence of rosemary, 60 grams;
oil of sweet almonds, 30 grams.

I have found that, while I may protect my skin, my eyes,
my hands somewhat from the winds of winter, my hair al-
ways suffers from it. The wind I found dried the oil in
it, making it harsh and brittle. Ordinary massage and
brushing I did not find as useful as in the summer. I tried
many remedies for the dry condition of the scalp, which,
of course, produced dry hair. At last I hit upon this, which
I rubbed well into the roots of the hair before retiring on
the night before my shampooing day :

Lanolin, 1 ounce; sulphur, % ounce.

Let me explain, I did not rub this haphazard upon the
scalp. I have seen women dab a hair scalp emollient so
carelessly upon the scalp, here and there, that they might
quite as well have left it undone and employed their time
for better purposes. I did this as thoroughly as, I think,
everything we undertake should be done.

First, I combed the hair thoroughly, doing it slowly, be-
ginning about an inch from the ends, holding the long hair
near the roots so that rough combing might not pull it out.
Then I brushed it slowly, beginning at the roots and brush-
ing downward with long, slow strokes to the very end. I
parted the hair into fifty strands, combing it smoothly away
from each little parting.

Then, with fingers dipped into the mixture of lanolin
and sulphur, I began at the hair line and, with firm, long
strokes, the effect of which was to loosen the skin from the
scalp, I rubbed the mixture well into the roots. From
the hair line I followed the partings to the crown, from
which it radiated. This done, and thoroughly done, I un-
braided my hair and combed and brushed it once more, and
allowed it to hang loose for an hour or more, exercising
and ventilating it, until I retired, when it was braided
and tied into two large, loose braids and tied at the

124

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

end with narrow ribbons. I never use either elastic or
thread to fasten the ends of the hair, for I think it breaks
the hairs, making the ends uneven.

The next morning I have a shampoo. Ordinarily I use
a lather of white castile soap and warm water. But in
winter, noting the drying effects of the cold winds upon my
hair, I try to use a shampoo which will aid in making the
hair soft and lustrous, doing for the time the work of the
natural oils, which seem to have suspended operations :

Yolks of 2 eggs; warm water, I quart.

I part the hair into fifty strands, as I have described, the
night before, and into each of the partings and particularly
around the hair line, which a woman cannot afford to neg-
lect, I rub the tips of the fingers with the yolks of the eggs,
using the tips of the first two fingers. When this has been
thoroughly done I rinse the hair and scalp in warm water.
After the hair has “been through the first water,” I turn
upon the scalp a spray from a small hose, one of the small-
size sprays now made for shampooing. This distributes
the water better, and the force is not so great as when it
is poured from a pitcher in the old-fashioned “ home ” way.

The full force of city water must never be used upon the
tender scalp. The little sprays are cheap and a good invest-
ment. The shower from the spray can be gradually cooled,
but I do not believe in extremes of temperature for the hair
any more than I do for the complexion. I never use either
cold or hot water for a shampoo, nor cold water for rins-
ing. Warm to cool water is a sufficient gradation that
soothes the nerves of the scalp, while dashes of hot and
cold water overstimulate and shock them.

CHAPTER IX

USEFUL BEAUTY HINTS FOR MEN

MEN take beauty treatments. Had that been a secret
heretofore, one of their own sex revealed it. David
Graham Phillips, whom some critics have called the Zola,
others the Flaubert, of American literature, tells of the dis-
appearance of a wealthy broker who was taking a beauty
treatment.

Of what do men’s beauty treatments consist? Like the
soundest of beauty treatments given to women, some of
them are the rebuilding of the constitution upon a basis of
health. Muldoon, of White Plains, many a New York man
considers the greatest of beauty doctors. Men of London
and some men of Paris have the same unlimited faith in San-
dow.

No intelligent person can doubt that rest, regular living
and much out-of-door air will make a person’s beauty
greater, because it will strengthen the very pedestal of
beauty, which is health. Every man is justified in taking
one of these beauty vacations, which is, after all, a health
vacation, a tonic time for the entire system.

If I were asked what the smart man has most regard for
in his appearance, I should say his baths, which the Eng-
lish and those who spend much time in England, call their
“ tubs,” and the cut of their clothes.

As to the baths, the man who is really not unkempt, by
the standards of the high world, has two baths a day, in the
morning a cold plunge or shower as a tonic, in the evening
125

126

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

just before dinner a tepid or warm bath, with a shower
afterward, as a cleanser.

The cold bath is not cleansing. On the contrary it
merely closes the pores, shutting the gates upon the effete
matter that is trying to escape from the system by means
of the millions of little gateways in the skin. It is valuable
as a tonic to the nervous system, by means of the shock
it gives to that system. But not even my lord man, mighty
in his strength, should take such powerful tonics without
having consulted his physician about it.

A man who always seems to shine with the radiance of
his bath pours a wineglassful of perfumed ammonia into a
tub of water. This softens the water, removes the odors
of perspiration and whitens the skin.

An exquisite who is the fashion in London uses a quarter
of a pound of borax in his bath to soften the water and so
refine his skin.

I once heard the story of the physician with so admirable
a skin that all his women patients asked the secret of his
complexion’s perfection. He told one, who generously told
many others, that knowing the mighty power of absorption
of the skin, he had experimented with the use of Epsom
salts in the bath. He had found it stimulating and, in con-
sequence, had used a pound of the salts dissolved in a bath-
tubful of water, every day.

A salt bath is stimulating. Rubbing handfuls of table
salt on the body, getting it into a fine glow before the bath,
is one means of absorbing the salt into the system. An-
other is pouring an ordinary five-cent bag of table salt into
the water and letting it thoroughly dissolve before taking
the bath.

But ask any well-groomed man if baths are sufficient for
cleanliness and he will answer, “ No. No man can be clean
unless he walks four to six miles a day.” There must be
then three baths, the cold plunge in the morning, the natural

MAXINE ELLIOTT

Whom Mme. Cavalieri admires not only for her classic lines of
face and figure, but also for her admirable taste in dress.

USEFUL BEAUTY HINTS FOR MEN 127

perspiratory bath at any time that is convenient between
the two, and the before-dinner tub in the evening, for the
cleanliness that obtains among men who are proud of their
grooming.

The man who fears baldness does well to avoid a tigh+
hat. The size should be large enough to permit ventila-
tion of the hair and scalp. Also he should puncture the hat
with fine holes for the same purpose.

A man is his own best judge of when he needs a sham-
poo. If the hair falls unduly, or if it feels sticky, or if the
brush is considerably soiled after brushing, it is time for a
shampoo, even though you had one three days before. If
there is much dandruff in the hair there is need of a sham-
poo. A shampoo successfully used by a relative of mine
who has beautifully thick and glossy hair is made of :

Tincture of green soap, 1 tablespoonful; the whites of
two eggs; cologne, 10 drops.

If the hair is dark the yolks of the eggs may also be
used. The eggs are beaten into the water, the soap added
and the cologne sprinkled in. To prevent catching cold
after a shampoo, rub alcohol into the hair about the neck
and cheeks and temples.

Remember that there would be no baldness if the hair
roots were properly nourished. So keep a plentiful supply
of blood flowing in that direction by massage. If the scalp
is dry rub olive oil or lanolin liberally into the scalp at
night.

Be sure to keep the skin of the scalp so loose that it
can be easily moved about, and keep it cool if to do so you
must occasionally place on the head when it is overheated
a bag of cracked ice or a cloth dipped into cold water, re-
newing it as the cloth dries.

One authority on the hair believes in a daily pulling,
not by an irate wife, but by yourself. He believes that
this takes the place of exercise for the hair and that it

128

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

strengthens the roots as walking strengthens the muscles
of the legs or rowing the muscles of the arms.

Every man fears the ugly dewlap, often called “ the
statesman chin/’ He can prevent this by carrying his head
and chin well up. He can to some extent correct it by
using webbing chin bandages at night.

CHAPTER X

THE CARE OF THE NAILS AND FINGERS

DAINTY finger nails are Nature’s finishing touch for
a beautiful woman. They have always seemed to me
to be the natural jewels of the hands, and if they are in good
order, that other jewels are unnecessary, if not super-
fluous.

Let me describe these jewels at their best. They are of
color pink, as the deep, fresh heart of a blush rose. In
shape they are nearly like the filbert nut. In size they are
in good proportion to the size of the finger and the hand.
They must be neither too large nor too small. They must
seem to be long. They are more like the petals of a half-
blown rose, or the lining of a sea-shell, than anything else
in nature. At their base must be a crescent tiny in pro-
portion to the size of the nail, but as clear cut and silvery
as a young moon on the night of its debut in the sky.

Is there need to say that the other end of the nail be
spotless, as utterly beyond suspicion as the character of
Caesar’s wife? There must not be the slightest rim nor
shadow to darken the fair pinkness of the nails.

The skin about them must seem to bear but remote and
casual relation to the nails. It must be discouraged from
any intimacy with the nail, any closer intimacy, shall we
say, than the thorny calyx with the rose? It serves, in-
deed, the same purpose. It is the mere protector of its
charming charge.

Thus should the nails be. But how to make and keep
them so is what we must discuss to-day. In the first place,
129

130

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

as to their daily care. If they are in normally good con-
dition, the morning hand bath should be supplemented by
soaking the nails themselves for five minutes in warm soap-
suds or lather made of castile soap.

This supplemental nail bath should be followed by a
careful pressing back with the towel of the skin about the
nails until each portion of the skin is detached.

A third step in the daily care of the nails is to brush
them vigorously with a nail brush dipped into the soap-
suds.

Notice next whether any portion of the skin about the
nails is still attached, or if not attached, is slightly sore.
If it is, that portion of the nail should be anointed with
a bit of camphor ice or with vaseline or lanolin, or a
preparation containing witch hazel. If necessary, wrap it
round with white muslin or white silk.

If in spite of all these endeavors there remains a faintly
dark rim around the end of the nail, one further process
is necessary. Wrap around the pointed end of an orange-
wood stick a bit of antiseptic cotton. Moisten this with a
few drops of peroxide of hydrogen. With this carefully
remove the dust that may remain between the nail and the
skin. Never use a steel instrument, an ivory nail cleaner,
or anything harder than the cotton wrapped around the
end of the orange stick. If you do, the sensitive skin un-
der the nail is lacerated. Dust settles upon the ragged ends
of the skin, and the ugly, disfiguring dark rim is evident.

If the nails become brittle it is because they are dry
and they should at once be moistened by an oil bath. Into
a small, shallow bowl pour a gill or more of olive oil.
Soak the nail in this for ten minutes or longer every even-
ing until the condition is corrected. If for any reason
this is not feasible, massage them every evening with cold
cream. If white spots appear under the nails rub the nail
with slices of lemon.

THE CARE OF NAILS AND FINGERS 131

Sometimes the nails grow soft and dull. In such case I
have found of value this mixture, which, after having been
melted on a slow fire, cooled and poured into a pomade
jar, should be rubbed on the nails to restore them to their
former hardness and brilliancy:

White wax, 250 centigrams; nut oil, 15 grams; resin, 5
grams ; alum, 1 gram.

If a kind friend gives you a manicure set, smile out-
wardly, but inwardly regret that you have not the dif-
ference between the original small cost of the tools and the
exorbitant price paid for the elegant case containing what
is usually an inferior set of instruments.

The outfit should consist of:

One large nail brush, for the outer part of the nail;
one small nail brush to go under the nail ; one strong but
pliable nail file; one polisher (chamois or covered); two
pairs of curved scissors (one pair for each hand. There
are scissors made especially for cutting the nails of the
right hand, and vice versa) ; one orange stick; one box of
powdered pumice; one box of nail powder.

First go round the outer edge of the nail with an orange
stick, pressing the cuticle back firmly but softly, but do
not press the nail, which is exceedingly sensitive. Any
pressure upon it may injure the sensitive cutis beneath.
Coax the white half-moon at the base of the nail into full
view. This moon, like the other young moon, is reluctant
to appear.

Then file the nail into any shape you wish. A slightly
pointed effect is admissible, and is becoming to nearly all
hands. It especially counteracts the plumpness of the hand
that nature has made too short. Dipping the nail polisher
or brush into the powder, rub the nail until my figure
of their being “natural jewels of the hands” becomes ap-
parent. Stop short of a too high polish. With the extra
brush remove all the powder that has adhered.

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

Most manicures assist the process by soaking the hands
alternately for five minutes after they have been filed. The
palms of the hands add a polish to nails that are not readily
susceptible to the polisher. You will find that the oftener
you polish your nails the more susceptible do they become
of polish.

This nail powder lends itself well to polishing:

Pulverized starch, 34 ounce; boric acid powdered, 34
ounce; talcum powder, J4 ounce; tincture of carmine, io
drops.

Another which I have used satisfactorily is composed of :

Oxide of tin, thoroughly powdered, io drams; oil of
lavender, 60 drops ; tincture of carmine, 20 drops. One-half
of this quantity may be put up and will serve for many
weeks.

Still another good nail polish is made like this :

Zinc oxide, 1 ounce; carmine, 4 grams; oil of violet to
suit taste.

This nail rouge is excellent:

Fresh lard, 1 dram ; finely powdered carmine, 34 dram ;
oil of bergamot, 12 drops.

This, which was derived, I am told, from the Orient, is
effective :

Chippings of alkanet, 34 ounce; alcohol, 95 per cent., 1
ounce. After this mixture macerates for one week it be-
comes a brilliant color. Apply to the finger tips with
jeweler’s cotton, blending it afterwards with more cotton.

Personally I prefer to do my own nails. They should
be done every day to attain perfection. Two or three times
a week are needful, and at least once a week essential.

The purpose is to keep the nails clean, to make them
shapely, to preserve their color, to adorn the tips of the
fingers.

I have tried to make my nails the exact shape of a filbert.
I keep them very pointed, and do not sandpaper, that is,

THE CARE OF NAILS AND FINGERS 133

shorten them oftener than twice a month. But the daily-
process is this :

First, to study them in a good light and to see whether
there be any stains on the fingers. If there are I rub the
stains with pumice stone until they have disappeared.

Second, I look carefully to the half moons at the base
of the nails. They are as illuminating to the nails as the
new moon to the heavens. If they are well defined I
merely press the cuticle back gently when I dry my hands.
But if they be overgrown with cuticle I give them a bath
in olive oil. Into a shallow vessel I pour a half pint of
olive oil. Into this I dip my nails, holding them there for
five minutes if they are but slightly overgrown, fifteen
minutes if extremely covered with the cuticle. Then when
the cuticle is softened I carefully go over each one with a
linen towel, softly pressing back the skin. If it clings ob-
stinately I do not persist, but resolve that the fingers must
have several oil baths. Also I resolve that that night I
will rub them as carefully with cold cream as I do any
other part of the hands. In a week the half moons should
stand beautifully revealed. If not I continue the oil baths
in the morning and cold cream applications at night until
they are visible.

Third, I twist about the point of an orange wood stick
a bit of cotton, dip the end into peroxide of hydrogen and
rub the dampened point of the orange wood stick along
the inside of the nail. Mark that I said nail, not skin.
The reason so many persons must keep their nails short to
keep them clean is that they use sharp or jagged instruments
to clean the nail, and pressing this upon the skin beneath
the nail makes it ragged. The uneven edges of the skin
catch the dust and give the gray or even black rim that is
so ugly a border for the fingers.

Fourth, with a chamois I polish each finger nail by three
or four strokes, using the least touch of nail rouge before

i34 MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

the polishing. Pink nails are charming. Red nails are
horrible.

Don’t, I beg, allow your hands to grow old. Hands,
unless well cared for, betray the age more quickly than does
the face.

Study your hands well. Don’t let the skin grow coarse.
Don’t let the veins grow large. Don’t let the skin hang in
folds and creases about them. Never allow the divorce of
the skin from the muscles.

The young hand is smooth and firm. The old is rough
skinned and loose muscled. In the youthful hand the veins
are only faintly indicated. In the old hands they stand
forth as whipcords. When the hand is young, the knuckles
are inconspicuous. When it is old, they are more prominent
than any other part of the hand. There is between the
young hand and the old the same difference there is be-
tween the thin bark of a sappling and the thick, rugged
bark of a storm-beaten old oak. The nails in youth are
thin and pink. In old age they are thick and yellow.

Knowing these signs, the intelligent student of beauty
culture will avoid them. She will discourage these symp-
toms of multiplying years. The cause of aged hands is
the common cause of bodily decay, defective circulation.
If you note signs of ageing in your hands, attend more
than ever before to the circulation. Exercise promotes
circulation. Exercise your hands, particularly the fingers.

Fancy that your fingers are but loosely attached to the
hands and that you are trying to shake them off. Raise
them from the elbows, and, with the hands bent at the wrist,
vigorously shake them, with fingers spread and loose. ( i )
Shake them from right to left and back again. (2) Shake
them up and down. (3) Shake them round and round.

Invent exercises of your own. Any movement that will
cause the blood to flow at an increased rapidity will renour-
ish and so rejuvenate the hands. We read in poem and

THE CARE OF NAILS AND FINGERS 135

story that the sorrow stricken heroine wrings her hands.
This may or may not be a vent for her grief, but it is an
excellent means of making her hands healthier and so more
beautiful.

Daily exercises, say ten to fifteen times every morning,
will do much to beautify the hands and so render them
prettier. The ageing hand is the hand whose muscles are
shrinking. Increase the circulation and the hand will
plumpen and in time resume its youthful lines.

My favorite methods of massage for the hands are two,
the motion we use when washing the hands, and that we
use when smoothing down and fitting fingers of a pair of
gloves. Stroke the hands down the back from the spaces
between the fingers, and lock the hands together, interlacing
the fingers and tightly squeezing them.

The skin of the hands needs food as well as does the skin
of the face. Both are exposed to drying tendencies of the
outer air and the heating influence of the inner, and both
need a replenishing of the natural oils thus lost. Olive
oil is a good food for the skin of the hands. The large
pores quickly absorb this medium and a few weeks’ treat-
ment soon works a marvelous change.

Aged anaemic hands should have an oil bath, or should
be fed with cold cream every night. Wash them exactly
as though they were soiled and you were trying to remove
the dirt with soap and water. Either the following cream
or the paste that follows serve well that purpose:

Almond oil, 1 y2 ounces; cucumber juice, 1 ounce; white
wax, 1 dram; spermaceti, I ounce; oil of neroli, 5 drops.

Crushed sweet almonds, 1 ounce ; crushed bitter almonds,
1 ounce; spermaceti, 2 drams; oil of almonds, ounce;
white castile soap scraped fine, y2. ounce; oil of orange, 6
drops.

To relieve the congested, swollen appearance of the hands,
form the habit of holding them upward so that the blood

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

will run out of them instead of downward so that the blood
will run into them.

Also to avoid this congested condition of the hands, that
distends the veins unbecomingly, avoid lifting heavy weights.
For lifting anything of heavy weight stretches the hands,
making them larger and overfilling the blood vessels.

Even piano playing enlarges the hands that reach the oc-
taves, and to some extent causes swollen veins. The beau-
ties of the old French courts so well understood this that
they never used their hands when it was avoidable.

Enlarged knuckles, one of the signs of age, can be pre-
vented by avoiding overwork and carrying heavy weights.
If the knuckles be naturally large, it is well to keep the
hands well plumped by good circulation and much feeding
of the tissues with oils and creams.

This same precaution will prevent the hands becoming
unshapely. But if they were unshapely from birth, they
can be improved by pinching the tips of the fingers from
the sides, or by wearing clamps, or if these be not available,
by wearing thimbles on all the fingers a half hour or more
each day.

They can be made longer and slimmer by massaging the
hands with long, slow strokes from the wrists to the tips
of the fingers, always with the hands well oiled or covered
with pure cold cream.

Massage of the fingers can be profitably combined with
massage of the face by using a rotary motion of the finger
tips. This stimulates both face and finger muscles.

Hands of any age should be kept white. Reddened
hands are always unsightly, whatever the cause. There
are four causes for reddened hands. One is washing in
hot or cold water. Another is exposure to cold air. A third
is extremely hard manual labor. A fourth is the habit of
holding the hands downward.

There are a good many bleaches for the hands. One

THE CARE OF NAILS AND FINGERS 137

of the best is washing the hands in a bowl of warm milk
every night. Another is that old friend of the dainty,
which should be within reach of every toilet table — a
lemon. There is no bleach better than half a lemon rubbed
on the back of palms of the hands before retiring.

This, too, is an excellent bleach which also softens the
hands. The addition of perfume makes it a pleasant prep-
aration :

Lemon juice, 1 ounce; honey, 1 ounce; eau de cologne,
1 ounce.

When my hands are soiled I wash them in warm —
never hot — water with a pure soap. Lifting my hands
from the bowl of warm water I pour upon them a table-
spoonful from a bottle of :

Rosewater, 3 ounces; glycerine, 1 ounce; carbolic acid, 10
drops.

I wash my hands thoroughly again in this and dry them
upon a soft towel, a piece of cheesecloth or an old silk hand-
kerchief, and am careful to wipe them thoroughly dry.
Chapped hands are the penalty of careless drying. To
further whiten the hands carbolic acid may be added to
this mixture: 10 drops to 4 ounces of the rosewater and

glycerine.

The woman who does her own housework often finds the
skin about the joints of her fingers getting loose and flabby
and the skin at the sides of the nails becoming calloused.
For these troubles I advise wearing large, loose gloves
while sweeping and dusting. Don’t put your hands in hot
water more than is necessary. Massage the hands as I
have directed and soak them every day in a bowl of milk or
olive oil. Use one of the bleaches I have recommended,
and wear big, loose rubber gloves, three or four sizes larger
than your kid gloves, at night.

At luncheon one day in London I saw a girl trying to
hide her hands. Some one had remarked that hands may

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

138

look old when their owner is not. The discussion of the
subject threw the girl into acute embarrassment, and her
hands sought to screen themselves beneath the damask of
her dinner napkin. Interested, I studied those hands when
I could do so without embarrassment to the girl. They
were large and red, but what made the unhappy guest try
to hide them was that they were what every beauty spe-
cialist knows as “old hands.”

Had I judged the age of their possessor by those hands
I should have said she was fifty. They were deeply
wrinkled. The skin had formed in deep creases about the
knuckles. The texture was coarse. There was the re-
signed look of accepted age in their contour. Yet when
my eyes traveled up from those hands to the figure of the
girl I saw that it was slender and undeveloped, and as my
scrutiny extended to the face I saw that it was fresh and
sweet as an English primrose that grows in one of the de-
liciously romantic English lanes. She was young as the
unblown rosebud, as the fledgling just peeping over the
nest, as the silver crescent moon is young. But she had
old hands. Why ?

A keenly observant man said to me : “I was traveling

to Cherbourg. I was in the same compartment as two
women. My eyes tired of the landscape, and came back to
my fellow travelers. One of the women had drawn off her
gloves. Her hands lay in her lap. Idly I speculated about
their owner. I guessed by those hands that she was forty.
Her face showed she was not more than eighteen. Next I
glanced at her companion’s hands. They, too, were un-
gloved and, lying relaxed in her lap, were aged hands.
She must be eighty, I thought, and a glimpse of her face
confounded me. It was that of a woman in middle life.
She was of that opulent beauty whose midsummer is pro-
longed indefinitely. She was probably forty-five. And the
girl beside her was her daughter. She was an exact replica

THE CARE OF NAILS AND FINGERS 139

of her, even to her hands. The girl had inherited those
aged hands.”

My friend the traveler is clever, but I do not agree with
his conclusions. At least not fully. Hands are prema-
turely because they are neglected. We inherit certain ten-
dencies rather than any unchangeable physical appearances.
And the girl had inherited her mother’s tendencies to neg-
lect her hands. Doubtless they kept them clean. Perhaps
they used the nail brush quite often and as vigorously as
necessary. Probably they used the orange stick around
the edges of the nails to loosen the skin. Neverthe-
less, I insist that these prematurely aged hands were neg-
lected.

Why? Because they were hungry.

You are surprised? But consider. Have you looked at
your own face in the mirror when you were hungry?
Hunger had cut deep lines about your lips and beneath your
eyes and in your cheeks. Had it not? And you had
merely missed a meal because a train was delayed or be-
cause you had a headache.

This is what happens to the hands that are not well fed.
A great American specialist on nerves said that the hand
is a delicate instrument of the body and needs especial
care. He insists that much thought should be given to
their care. An important part of caring for them is to
feed them so well that the tissues worn out by continuous
using of the hands is quickly replaced.

Cocoa butter is a nourishing article of diet for the hands.
When you have removed the dust and powder from the
hands by bathing them in warm, not hot, water — hot water
shrivels the skin and causes wrinkles — and a mild soap,
dry them on a soft towel and rub cocoa butter gently and
liberally into them.

Olive oil containing a few drops of benzoin, to act as a
whitener, is an excellent hand food. Wash the hands in it

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

after the water and soap bath. It neutralizes the drying
effect of the soap.

Glycerine “ agrees ” with some hands. If it does not
redden and make them sensitive, as you can learn by two
or three applications, it will be a good article of hand food.
Equal parts of glycerine and rosewater will make a milder
application, for glycerine alone is often an irritant. If
lemon juice is used instead of the rosewater, it whitens the
hands.

Well fed hands I have seen have their daily meal of
cocoanut oil. Several cold creams are good hand foods.
So is buttermilk.

Many of my friends complain that winter always leaves
them with “ disgraceful looking hands.” I do not suppose
that this statement is really true. Americans, and espe-
cially American girls, are prone to extravagance in conver-
sation. What they mean by this bill of complaint, is that
the cold weather makes their hands look rough and red.

Don’t mourn those reddened, coarse-looking hands.
You will only etch lines in your face and cause the muscles
to sag as muscles do early in life if they have not been
upheld by a cheerful disposition and the facial exercise that
laughter brings. Besides all force is wasted that is not
used in upbuilding new conditions or in remedying old ones.

What is to be done with those red hands? First, do not
expose them to sudden changes of temperature. Don’t
plunge them into hot water and draw them out of the hot
water and dry them in a cold room. Sleep in a cold room
by all means, but don’t dress in one. If there are no means
to make your bedroom warm for the morning toilet dress
in some part of the house that is warmed, if necessary by
the kitchen stove. Cold followed by heat or the opposite
extreme is sure to redden the hands and to coarsen the
texture of their skin.

Second, do not wear tight gloves. I dislike a tightly-

THE CARE OF NAILS AND FINGERS 141

gloved hand. It has always seemed to me vulgar. I am
glad to see that Fashion is recognizing this and giving her
endorsement to the practice of wearing gloves a half or
whole size too large, so that the glove will wrinkle a trifle
over the hand and look as though the wearer were com-
fortable. Wear gloves that are otherwise comfortable, that
is, that do not irritate the skin. For summer cotton or very
thin suede, silk or chamois are best. Suede are best in win-
ter, because they are softer than most other materials used
by the glover in providing his stock. Woolen gloves may
be worn over the gloves, but I do not advise wearing them
next to the skin, for they chafe the skin, making it rough.

Third, do not wash them in water too often while they
are in the coarse, reddened state. Remove the dust or
grime when possible by rubbing oil or cold cream over the
hands and afterwards carefully wiping them. When you
wash them in water let it be in merely warm water. Into
this you may drop a teaspoonful of powdered borax to a
quart of water, or in the same amount of water a dessert-
spoonful of liquid ammonia or a half dozen drops of tinc-
ture of benzoin. All these will whiten the skin. If you
drop in the water a handful of bran or oatmeal it will
soften and whiten the hands. Dry the hands gently.
Don’t treat them as though you were putting them through
a clothes wringer with the Monday wash.

Fourth, until the hands reach the refined condition you
desire, never retire without dressing them for the night.
Rub over them thickly lanolin, or nafalan, or a mixture of
equal parts of vaseline and lanolin. If you have made the
hands too greasy by this application wipe off the superfluous
cream with a soft handkerchief or piece of cheesecloth.
Or if you prefer you can use the English paste, or the
French, formulas for which follow:

Pure soap shaved, y2 quart; olive oil, y2 quart; mutton
suet, % quart ; brandy, % quart. Warm the soap, suet and

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

oil until they blend. While they are still tepid pour in the
brandy. Add a few drops of any favorite perfume if de-
sired.

Eau de cologne, ioo grams ; oil of almonds, ioo grams ;
powdered soap, 30 grams. Warm to blending point; then
shake well and pour into a jar, and keep in a cool place.

Spread one of these pastes over the hands and draw over
the hands large loose rubber or large old kid gloves, before
retiring.

If the hands have reached such stage of roughness that
there are small cracks or fissures in the skin cover these
cracks or fissures with zinc oxide plasters. If the fissures
are very deep apply a salicylic soap plaster.

If your hands “ take a notion to be red,” say at an even-
ing party or at a tea, for instance, when you are expected
to “ pour,” shake them violently, so that if the fingers were
less loosely attached they would fly off.

Also work the hands back and forth from the wrists for
a few minutes. This is better than the old French custom
of holding the hands up to let the blood run out, for the
blood will run back into them again as soon as the hands
are held as usual. On the other hand the shaking of the
hands and limbering of the wrists will restore the circula-
tion, the interruption of which has caused the hands to
redden. Be sure that your rings are not too tight, for if
they are they will impede the circulation and cause the red-
ness so many of you are trying to avoid.

i ^ t r " '

LOIS EWELL

A wealth of Titian hair adds the crowning charm to the
winsome beauty of this Century Opera House prima donna.

CHAPTER XI

BEAUTY BATHS

LET me direct the baths of the body and the complexion
will take care of itself.

How shall I impress upon you, my beautiful reader, who
would remain beautiful, my plain reader — if ever a woman
was plain — who wants to be beautiful, how necessary is
the frequent bath? By this I mean the daily bath. Let
me tell you that which you may have forgotten, that when
we speak of the skin as “ the third lung ” we minimize its
importance. The skin discharges twice as much waste
matter from the body as do the lungs. Keep that ever in
mind and help the skin in its task.

Again there is the story, which you also may have heard
and forgotten, that the man whose skin has been gilded in
an effort to make of him a man of gold, died in a few
hours because his pores, having been filled, could not dis-
charge their function.

The daily bath, in some instances, the bath twice a day,
is not as persons advanced in some directions and pitiably
behind in others tell us, a luxury. It is a necessity. It
does not, as some ignorantly assume, destroy the oils of the
skin. It causes them to circulate more freely through the
medium of the skin.

Permit me to picture to you the condition which a bath
changes. Have you ever seen a shower of ashes? How,
from a disturbed furnace, a gray flurry rises, then falls
thickly as snow upon the nearest smooth surface? That is
what happens to the skin. The shower of white ashes,
143

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

refuse from the fires in the human body, pushes its way
through the pores to the surface of the body, or the skin.
There, in the mouths of the pores, they remain, obstructing
them as a wagonload of soil would obstruct the mouth of a
sewer if poured into it and allowed to remain.

The shower of human ashes must be removed, just as the
traces of a snowfall are removed from city streets, quickly
and thoroughly, else traffic is impeded. The scarf skin
must go, and the best and most direct way to send it is by
the route of the bath.

I have described in a previous chapter my own method
of bathing. I find the tepid bath in the morning, followed
by a slightly cooler shower, or splash with sponge or hands,
the best for my needs. Also for drying the skin I prefer
a soft towel, for it is best for my skin. But I do not
recommend this as a universal method.

My skin happens to be exceedingly thin and sensitive,
annoyingly so. If it were one of the hardier, more dur-
able sort, with a tendency to a coarsening and roughening,
I should try this much more drastic method of removing
scarf skin. If I were strong enough and my physicians
vouched for the fact that I were, I would try the daily cold
plunge or shower. This I would take in the morning re-
maining in the icy tub or under the chilling shower not more
than one minute. Then I should have a brisk rubdown, not
with the soft linen towel or cheesecloth, but with a big,
coarse Turkish towel. For this purpose I like best the big
towels that swathe the body completely, which one may
wrap round herself, and, wrapped in them, sit upon a bath-
ing stool and dry herself with immunity from chill. Un-
less I were to dress at once, I should briskly rub the body
with alcohol to render less the possibility of taking cold.
But if my room were sunny I would prefer to run about the
room half a dozen times, or a rehearsal of dancing steps
for five minutes, or jumping the rope. One of the greatest

BEAUTY BATHS 145

authorities on hygiene in your country has advocated exer-
cise — he called it a sun bath — directly after the bath.

But this would by no means suffice for my bathing. For
every one except an Englishman knows that the cold bath
does not cleanse. It merely exhilarates. For keeping the
skin clean there should be the warm bath. You observe
that I did not say the hot bath, for it is my opinion that the
hot bath enervates. For cleansing the water should be
from 90 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit.

A good soap should be plentifully used. White castile,
the soaps made from spermaceti and good glycerine soaps
I believe to be the best. The soap need not be used directly
upon the skin. Much better is it that for ten minutes or a
quarter of an hour before you take your night bath a cake
of soap or a quantity of it shaved be thrown into the water,
so that the water becomes a milky color, or that a lather
rise to the top of the water.

Thus soap will never, except in its diluted form, touch
the skin. The per cent, of lye which is used in the manu-
facture of soaps that would actually touch the skin would
be very small. A soft brush would be useful for a coarse
skin. I never advocate a hard one, for it is liable to abrade
the skin.

No one should remain in the bath more than twenty min-
utes, and this time should include the rinsing off of the
soapy water by a shower or spray of cooler, perhaps fifteen
degrees cooler, not cold, water. A cold shower at night,
when this cleansing bath is taken, would be over-stimula-
tive, and tend, as does the strong coffee to certain persons,
to keep them awake.

Between the two extremes of gentle and drastic bathing
lie many intermediaries known as beauty baths. There is,
for example, that simple and efficacious starch bath, taken
by women whose skins are tormented and disfigured by
pimples.

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

To an ordinary bathtub half filled with water add one
pound of pure starch. Let it dissolve in water at 90 to 95
degrees Fahrenheit. To this many French women choose
to add one wineglass of toilet ammonia for its whitening
effect.

The oatmeal bag is an old and admirable remedy for
rough or stained skin. The best is made in this way:

Oatmeal, 1 pound ; pulverized orris root, pound. Stir
well together and sew into a large square bag. Toss the
bag into the tub and let it remain in the warm water for
fifteen minutes. It will give the water that delightful
milky aspect so pleasant to the luxurious bather. Bran
may be manipulated in the same way with equally good
results.

For whitening and softening the skin a bath powder may
be made at home from these ingredients :

Bicarbonate of soda, 6 ounces ; cream of tartar, 5 ounces ;
starch, 8 ounces ; oil of lemon, 1 dram ; oil of bergamot, 10
drops. If another scent is preferred to bergamot it can
be substituted; for instance, 5 drops of oil of rose gera-
nium.

For a person not strong enough to endure the cold bath,
this tonic in tepid water is recommended by many European
physicians :

Aromatic vinegar, 1 pint; tincture of benzoin, 1 wine-
glass.

A delicious bath used by our grandmothers, and that is
as efficacious for their granddaughters, is made by boiling
for three hours two pounds of bran. Strain the bran
through a sieve. To the remaining liquor add some scent
of your choice, let us say 10 drops of bergamot, 5 of rose
of geranium, or 5 of oil of lavender.

A belle of limited means utilizes all the left-over bits of
her toilet soap. These she grinds or chops with a knife
into a fine powder. To two ounces of this powder she adds

BEAUTY BATHS

147

four tablespoonfuls of borax. She sifts these into two
quarts of bran. A pint of this mixture poured into an old
linen or cheesecloth bag and the bag used as a washcloth
gives a pleasant touch of luxury to a bath, besides greatly
softening and whitening the skin.

Many women prefer to make their own toilet or aromatic
vinegars to be used in the bath. For them I recommend
this formula:

Camphor, y2 ounce; oil of rosemary, y2 dram; oil of
cloves, y2 dram; oil of bergamot, 1 dram; acetic acid, 4
ounces; alcohol, 8 ounces.

When for any reason the perspiration is odorous in spite
of the bath, this sprinkled upon the offending portions of
the body destroys the unpleasant condition :

Subnitrate of bismuth, 1 ounce ; pulverized boric acid, y2
ounce; pulverized alum, y2 ounce; oil of eucalyptus, 10
drops ; oil of rose geranium, 5 drops ; oil of lemon, 5 drops.

For those of full habit I recommend a Russian bath once
a week as beneficial to the complexion. I prefer those
given in the cabinets. For myself, being meager, there
would be after six of them nothing left.

Let me suggest this means for the invalid or the person
of lean purse, of taking the Russian bath at home. There
are inexpensive cabinets, folding or stationary, made for
this purpose, of wood or tin. Even a packing box would
suffice. But a good Russian, which means vapor, as dis-
tinguished from the Turkish, or hot air, bath — and the
Russian I think much to be preferred, because it does not
involve breathing hot air — may be taken at home.

The home-made Russian bath requires: Three or more

blankets ; a cane-seated chair ; a spirit lamp ; a can contain-
ing one quart of water. Place the can upon the lighted
spirit lamp, the spirit lamp beneath the chair, and yourself,
enveloped in blankets, upon the chair. The water in the
can can be replenished from time to time.

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

Drinking three or more glasses of hot water during the
bath aids in perspiration. If there are more blankets avail-
able lie down swathed in from four to six dry ones, and
the process of perspiration will continue for twenty minutes
longer.

In Turkey baths are regarded not only as means of clean-
liness but as agents of beauty. Here is a tonic Turkish
women pour into the tub to tone the skin and through that
the whole body:

Ammonia (pure), 100 grams; cooking salt, 500 grams.

This is of special value when one is tired and listless.
It is called the Stimulant Bath :

Oil of turpentine, 100 grams; carbonate of soda, 50
grams; oil of rosemary, 10 grams; oil of eucalyptus, 5
grams.

This oil bath is rubbed into the skin to render it soft and
smooth. It is an admirable remedy for a dry skin. The
harem women style it “ The Beauty Bath ” :

Rosewater, 100 grams; glycerine, 60 grams; starch, 50
grams; oil of lavender, 15 grams.

Famous beauties were always careful about their baths,
even in a period when baths were disregarded or were de-
spised as the habits of the unduly effeminate. Marie An-
toinette, for her full bath, used a mixture of wild thyme
and marjory, with sea salt. In the winter the baths were
taken cold, in the summer warm, it being the fancy of the
court physician, Dr. Fagoni, that the temperature of the
bath should correspond to the temperature of the outer air.

The wine bath is not a fiction of the imagination, but
rather a fact of history. The beautiful Russian, Marie
Czetwertynoska, favorite beauty of the Court of Alexander
the Great, insisted upon the tonic of a weekly bath in
Spanish wine. Poppsea bathed in asses’ milk, and was re-
nowned for her complexion.

Novel was the method of Isabeau, Queen of Bavaria,

BEAUTY BATHS

149

for toning the body and beautifying the complexion in
spring. Each morning during May, June and July she
bathed in strawberry juice.

Mme. Tallien, whose skin was flawless, preferred rasp-
berries, as at once milder in effect and yet of more lasting
quality. Ninon de TEnclos bathed alternately in chick-
weed water and milk, using oatmeal freely in her face
bath.

Enid Wilson, often alluded to as “ the most beautiful
woman in the British Empire,” had a favorite bath, which
she declared was the chief secret of her wonderful Eng-
lish complexion. “ Into a wide-mouthed gallon jar I cram
as many elder flower blossoms as it will hold. Over this
I pour boiling water,” she said. “ After letting the jar
and its contents stand in a cool place for six hours, I strain
the liquid and pour a few tablespoonfuls of it into my
bath.”

The beautiful women of every civilized nation are nowa-
days taking less medicine and more baths. The medical
directors, who are probably the greatest beauty doctors,
because they teach that beauty depends almost wholly on
health, are teaching them the tonic and sedative influences
of the bath. They are teaching them that of varieties of
baths there is no end. They tell them there is one sort of
bath for the anaemic person, another for the too full-blooded
person, one for the person who sleeps too little, another for
the one who sleeps too much.

For every temperament and for every condition there is
the special bath. But there are some general rules which
all should know. For instance these:

The best average temperature for the bath is 68 to 72
degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature of the bath should
always be tested before using.

The bath of cistern or rainwater is the best for the skin,
because it is the “ softest ” — that is, the purest water,

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

150

being unmixed with the minerals which well water collects
on its tour through the various strata of earth, and which
“ hardens ” it.

The starch bath is one of the best to allay itching or cure
annoying skin eruptions. It is made like this:

Into a tub of say ten gallons of water drop one-half
pound of starch.

The gelatine bath serves a similar purpose. It is sooth-
ing to an irritated skin. The proportions are two hundred
and fifty grams of white French gelatine to ten gallons of
tepid water.

The cold bath is a stimulant for those who are strong
enough to react from it. The test is whether after the cold
plunge the skin turns red. If it turns blue the vitality is
not sufficient to bear such heroic treatment. Cold baths
should not be taken without the advice of a competent
physician.

The hot bath is soothing, but if taken too often is ener-
vating. Once a week, under ordinary circumstances, is
often enough for a hot bath.

The tepid bath, graduated to a cool bath by letting the
cold water run in as the warm water runs off, is the best
daily bath.

For the person who perspires excessively, a wineglass of
ammonia to ten gallons of water is a good corrective.

For the seaside bath, five pounds of table salt dissolved
in a tubful of water at home is a very good substitute.
This, followed by a shower or spray, will lend the illusion
of Ostend or Atlantic City.

But besides these simple baths, that any one may take,
there are some that are complex, and that only those who
have, for a time at least, some spare hours to spend at their
toilets may trouble to take. This is what my physician
ordered when I had come from a Russian tour, weary from
travel and in that state of depression that follows extreme

BEAUTY BATHS 151

weariness. Used in tepid water every morning I found it
invigorating :

Bromide of potassium, 1 gram; carbonate of calcium, I
gram; carbonate of soda, 300 grams; sulphate of soda, 300
grams ; sulphate of iron, 3 grams ; oil of lavender, 1 gram ;
oil of thyme, I gram; oil of rosemary, 1 gram.

The same physician recommended for the skin that was
too sensitive to endure soap:

Tincture of quillagac, 10 grams; glycerine, 20 grams; oil
of bergamot, 3 drops.

The extremely nervous person, whose skin is much irri-
tated, may take the starch bath I have described and add
to it a pint of vinegar.

Discreet bathing, besides its first office of cleanliness, aids
and even cures anaemia, biliousness, obesity, rheumatism,
neuralgia and even St. Vitus’s dance.

The hot water treatment for pimples is more efficacious
than most medicines given for that purpose. The applica-
tion of soft cloths dipped in hot water has effected a cure
in a few days.

A class of skin diseases that produce postules on the
skin, these postules eventually bursting and forming crusts,
are alleviated and sometimes cured by a systematic course
of warm baths. The falling of the crusts like dandruff,
and the gradual healing, may be brought about by two
warm baths daily. Tetter is one of these forms that has
been cured by warm water baths and careful, tender drying
with soft towels.

An object lesson in the value of the warm bath in sooth-
ing the nervous system is seen in the case of children
screaming with the colic, who cease their cries and grow
sleepy as soon as they are placed in a tub of warm water.

If possible, bathe not less than two hours before eating
nor less than three hours after eating.

Never take a bath while very tired. There will be no

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

reaction — that is, the blood will not leap to the surface
as under favorable circumstances it makes its response to
the bath, and the bath will merely reduce further the low-
ered vitality.

A little exercise just before bathing and a little exercise
after, aids the good effects of the bath. The exercise be-
fore opens the pores for the reception of the water. The
exercise afterward permits the entrance of sun and air into
the pores too little accustomed to either.

Light exercise after the drying of the skin with a soft
towel and before enveloping it with clothes is a splendid
tonic and a wonderful beautifier. I know a half dozen
beautiful Parisiennes who have had their bathrooms built
in that part of the house most exposed to the sunshine, and
at the top of the house, and, opening from these, have built
small sun parlors, square rooms with roofs and sides en-
tirely of glass. Here they exercise for from five to ten
minutes, jumping the rope or flexing the arms and legs and
head. One vigorous beauty has a blanket spread upon the
floor of her sun parlor, and upon this turns somersaults, to
make her body pliant and to assure herself that her circu-
lation is free. Some of these exercises are illustrated by
the silhouettes on this page.

During the sunbaths they are unclad, or if clothed are
merely wrapped in a light, loose dressing gown. After the
bath and the exercise some Parisiennes repose for an hour
upon a couch in the sun parlor, their hair hanging loose
and their faces protected only by a delicate shade, like a fire
screen, from the too strong rays of the sun.

Bathe briskly in the water. Never stay in it more than
twenty minutes. Indeed, a good scrub can be taken in
three minutes. A brush is better than a sponge. It pries
open the pores. Do not use coarse towels. They abrade
the skin. Use soft towels or bath gloves. Dry thoroughly
and quickly. Many bathe the face and neck first to pre-

BEAUTY BATHS

153

vent a possible unpleasant dash of blood to the head.
Bathe in a room whose temperature is at least 68 or 70
degrees. Ordinarily the room should be as warm as the
water in which you bathe.

For those who dislike soaps, or if they do not dislike, at
least distrust them, lanolin milk is a valuable aid or even
a substitute for the bath:

Lanolin, 35 grains ; water, J4. ounce ; pure castile soap, 30
grains. Pour the lanolin into the water. Heat slowly.
The soap should be dissolved in a half ounce of water.
Mix and shake well.

Glycerine soap is one of the best for the winter. Those
soaps containing bran and oatmeal are also excellent for
preserving the softness of the skin in this trying season.

Almond meal poured into the wet hands and forming a
paste, which is gently rubbed upon the face and hands, is
the best substitute for soap for the face bath.

The ordinary daily bath is not enough for the feet, which
are of coarser fiber. They have larger pores, from which
much perspiration is discharged. And there is a greater
discharge of dead matter from the soles of the feet than
from any other part of the body of the same area. For
this reason and because the feet are more exposed to dust
than any other part of the body except the face, there
should be a special daily footbath. It is best to take this
just before retiring.

It is, by the way, helpful in calling the blood away from
the head to the feet. I always take my footbath a little
warmer than my body bath. I scrub them with a flesh
brush well soaped, for there cannot, fortunately, be too
much soap used upon the feet. A teaspoonful of borax
or a teaspoonful of ammonia aids the cleansing.

CHAPTER XII

GOOD HEALTH AS A FOUNDATION FOR BEAUTY

SHOW me a woman who has indigestion and I will show
you a person with muddy complexion, dull or fever-
ishly bright eyes, a coated tongue and a languid manner.

None of these makes for beauty. All are signs of ill-
health. Besides these outward and visible signs of ill
health, it is a heavy weight upon the spirits. The girl
thinks she is unhappy, and manufactures causes for misery,
or exaggerates the trifles that are not to her liking, and
makes them causes for unhappiness.

Besides these, indigestion causes yet graver troubles. I
recall several persons I knew who have since passed from
the earthly plane, whose decline in health began with vari-
ous symptoms of indigestion. It was never clear to me
whether the indigestion was the cause or the effect of these
maladies. But I trust I have said enough to prove that
indigestion is a most undesirable state. Vanity alone should
forbid it.

How to prevent indigestion? I shall have a great deal
to say farther on about food wrong in kind or quality as
a cause of indigestion. But first let me tell you of an ex-
cellent exercise to discourage indigestion.

Knead the abdomen on retiring and several times a day
when there is opportunity. Double your hands as though
for kneading bread. Place the clenched hands beneath the
ribs. Press firmly and regularly upon the intestines, mov-
ing the fists forward until they meet. Having done this
five to ten times, allow the left hand to rest at your side
i54

THE FOUNDATION FOR BEAUTY

155

and with the right hand press gently but steadily downward
at the left of the abdomen until your hand is opposite the
thigh. Repeat this operation several times each time you
take the exercise. This is still more effective if taken while
you are lying in your bathtub. The relaxation of the
muscles is aided by the fact that they are under water.
The hydropathic school believes this one of the greatest aids
to restoring proper digestion.

Much walking is an aid to digestion. So is this exercise,
which can be taken in bed :

Lying upon your back, draw the knees slowly up be-
neath the chin, then let the legs fall to their former position.
This is the most valuable of early morning exercises for
those who have a torpid liver or some other form of indi-
gestion.

CoarsQ cereals are an enemy to indigestion. Seldom
does one see a case of indigestion in Scotland, and if we
do, it is when we meet a queer Scot who dislikes his na-
tional dish, oatmeal. Oatmeal, whole wheat, rice, all being
large fibered foods, stir the stomach and intestines to ac-
tivity, which is good for digestion.

Again, every girl should know some of the principles of
the values of foods. Apply to your daily food these facts.
Your food should consist of these proportions :

Mixture of starches and sugars, about 16 parts. Pro-
teids, 4 parts. Fats, 2 parts.

In other words, one-half of our daily amount of food
may be made up of potatoes, rice, bread, etc. One-eighth
should consist of the proteids, as milk, or eggs, or cheese.
One-sixteenth should be fat, as butter or the fat to be
found in meat or oil in dressing of salads. Keep this table
in mind and you will find a new interest in choosing your
food, and in a short time you will welcome a marked im-
provement in your health.

Do not decline sweets unless you are overweight, but eat

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

156

them at the right time, which is as dessert for luncheon or
dinner. Never eat cake or candy between meals.

Turn resolutely away from all fried foods. You have
heard that fried foods are injurious, but you do not know
why. It is my pleasure to tell you. They are indigestible
because they form in the stomach a substance as thick and
unwieldy as leather, and as difficult of digestion. Neither
meats nor eggs nor milk should ever reach the boiling point.
For this reason never eat boiled beef, nor a boiled egg, nor
milk that has been boiled. The beef cut up in a stew that
has simmered below the boiling point, an egg that has been
dropped into water just below the boiling point and allowed
to heat there for eight minutes instead of boiling four, and
milk that has been heated but never permitted to show one
of the bubbles that attend the boiling state, are substitutes
for the old forms, and admirable ones.

Keep this also in mind in selecting your food: For the

bones’ formation we need lime, and the cereals, as oats and
wheat and rice, contain elements that make it. Sugar is
converted into energy, as the Russian dancers well know,
for they eat inordinate quantities of candy and sweet paste,
yet, because they exercise it off, remain thin. The fats, as
butter and meat fat, cause warmth in the body, so should
be used more freely in winter than in summer. Bread is
a good food if made of coarse grain. Contrary to the gen-
eral opinion, macaroni and spaghetti are good foods. Ex-
amine them in their raw state and you will see that they are
yellowish. That shows the presence of gluten, which is
valuable as an aid to digestion, in bread form.

Are you anaemic? Then besides mild exercise in the
open air, always stopping before you are tired, and mas-
saging the body and face with feeding oils as lanolin and
olive oil, feed yourself generously with thickened broths
and thick soups. Ham and bacon and mutton, chicken and
game are rebuilders of the weakened system, and but-

THE FOUNDATION FOR BEAUTY

157

ter may be freely eaten. For the anaemic all kinds of
fresh fish are nourishing. So are oysters. Eggs are re-
building agents. So are bread and cakes, tapioca and hom-
iny.

Much cream is desirable for the anaemic, and chocolate,
custards, baked fruits and jellies are friendly foods in the
circumstances.

Avoid what especially taxes the digestion, as veal or
pork, salt meats and heavy hashes. Bananas being among
the most indigestible of the foods, should be avoided.

If you are dyspeptic don’t eat many things at one meal.
Two or three dishes are enough. If you have difficulty in
digestion lie down before or after a meal. For you vege-
table soups as tomato, asparagus, pea and bean soups are
aids. Oysters and fresh fish, plainly broiled, are among
your dietetic friends. Squabs and sweetbreads and chicken
that has been broiled are best. Your meats should be
short-fibered and broiled until they are tender. Eat eggs
with stale bread or dry toast. Eggs may be cooked in any
way you wish except broiled or fried. Do not eat meats
freely, and if you eat any butter let it be very thinly
spread. If you eat bacon be sure that it is crisp and thor-
oughly done.

Well baked potatoes, tomatoes and spinach and boiled
onions, peas, lima beans, asparagus and stewed celery and
lettuce are edibles you should choose. Do not eat fruits
that are either very sour or very sweet. The stomach of
the dyspeptic is sensitive to extremes. Tea, if made very
weak and drunk clear and hot, is beneficial. So are milk
and cocoa or chocolate, if not too rich. Shun raw celery
and cabbage and radishes.

If you are gouty or rheumatic be careful not to eat stim-
ulating foods and avoid all stimulating liquors. The gouty
or rheumatic condition is caused by the deposit of acids in
the joints, and you should study how to eliminate these

158 MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

from the body. Alcohol, sweets and strawberries add to
them.

Eat very slowly of the following: Thin vegetable soups,

fresh fish and raw oysters, whitemeats, as the breast of
chicken, sweetbreads and pigs’ feet. Take the whites of
eggs, preferably raw.

Toasted graham or whole wheat bread is the best for
your condition. Zweiback and graham gems are also help-
ful. For you celery, lettuce, cucumber, cabbages, young
peas and string beans, spinach, those vegetables containing
much water, are excellent. Juicy fruits as oranges, lemons,
apricots, cranberries, pears, peaches, better stewed or baked
than raw, are medicinal for you.

But eat no beef, no fried dishes, no ragouts nor hashes,
neither turkey nor duck nor goose, no omelettes and no salt
fish and no desserts except fruits. If you drink tea or
coffee let it be weak. Buttermilk is better for you, and
you more than any other class of person, should drink water
in large quantities.

If you are liverish or are troubled by bilious attacks eat
less heavily than you have been doing. Choose white meats
and fish, and eat no fat part of the meat. Of vegetables
eat much watercress and lettuce and spinach. Drink
skimmed milk and that very slowly, and eat only raw or
poached eggs. Cornbread or bread made from whole wheat
flour and hot water in which you have squeezed the juice
of a lemon or orange will help you back to a state of health.
Eat neither cheese nor potatoes, oatmeal nor dried vege-
tables.

If you are neurasthenic never attempt the no-breakfast
plan. It is better for you if you can have your breakfast
in bed. The diet should be light. Meats, fish, eggs, green
vegetables and fruits are a helpful diet. Milk can be taken
if the stomach does not reject it. Tea, coffee, tobacco and
alcoholic drinks are forbidden to you.

THE] FOUNDATION FOR BEAUTY

159

Train yourself to note your symptoms and treat them by
diet. When your face has a mottled appearance you may
be sure that you are eating too much food of all sorts, or
that you are eating too much that is greasy or rich or sweet.
A chic Parisian friend of mine when she notices such
symptoms limits herself to one moderate meal a day — her
dinner — and the earlier part of the day contents herself
with fruits and salads, drinking water moderately at these
meals and copiously between them.

There are many times when we “ feel our bodies ” and
are growing too heavy or too lazy that it is well to subsist
for a few days on a liquid diet. This nourishing drink
strengthens the body even while the work of removing the
remaining ashes from the body goes on :

Whole barley, 1 tablespoonful ; a slice of lemon ; boiling
water, 2 cupfuls. Place the barley and slice of lemon in an
earthen dish. Over them pour the boiling water. Cover
the dish and let the mixture stand for ten minutes. Then
strain into another earthen dish. The drink may be fla-
vored with a small quantity of sugar if preferred. The
quantity given is ample for one nourishing meal for one
person.

This is a drink often taken by athletes to refresh them
during their training period in England, but is useful to
women taking a semi-fast for beauty's sake:

Bran, 2 tablespoonfuls; seeded raisins, 1 tablespoonful;
lemon, I thick slice. Chop the raisins fine and place them
with the bran and lemon in an earthen bowl. Over these
pour a half pint of boiling water. Let stand to cool and
blend for ten minutes. Strain and drink while warm.
Raisins are of special value in cleansing and toning the
kidneys.

The water in which peeled apples have been stewed and
to which a few currants have been added is a strengthening,
cooling and cleansing drink. It is made more appetizing

i6o

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

by the addition of a few cloves or a broken stick of cinna-
mon.

This is another tonic and refreshing drink during the
time when you are eating little, or nothing:

Squeeze into a large coffee cup the juice of one orange.
Fill the space remaining in the cup with boiling water.
Add a teaspoonful of liquid honey and the same amount of
lemon juice.

This, too, appeases hunger:

Milk, i pint; hot water, I pint. Slowly sip in lieu of a
meal. The use of water in a way prevents the clogging
of the system that sometimes follows an exclusively milk
diet.

A drink much in use in England, that is half food, half
medicinal, is this:

Two tablespoonfuls of whole wheat; a little caraway or
celery seed to flavor. Into a pint bowl of boiling water stir
the whole wheat after it has been ground. Add the cara-
way or celery seed. Sweeten, if you wish, with a half
teaspoonful of powdered licorice.

Nut drinks are among the strengthening beverages sub-
stituted for food during a beauty fast. For example, this :

Ground peanuts, i tablespoonful; boiling water, I cup-
ful. Flavor with equal quantities of honey or lemon juice
as desired.

Perhaps you prefer meat juices in the thinning or re-
building time. In that case:

Pour over finely chopped beef or chicken twice its
bulk in boiling water if you wish the tea to be strong, three
times if weak.

Some things there are that no one who wishes to be beau-
tiful should ever take into the stomach. Those things
should be contraband, as poisons and leads. They are:
Sweets, pastries, anything very sweet or very sour, any-
thing very cold or very hot, pork, puddings other than those

THE FOUNDATION FOR BEAUTY 161

consisting chiefly of fruits, and the doughnut, or cruller,
which is fried dough.

I hear American women beseech me, “ Tell us what to
eat and what not to eat, so that we may be thin.” I an-
swer, “ Eat foods containing cooling properties, as limes,
soda and acids. Do not eat what contains sugar, fat and
starch.” Shall I be more explicit? Very well, then.
Choose for your regular diet:

Green vegetables, boiled without grease and with a little
salt; string beans, peas, asparagus and spinach may be
cooked in this way or dressed with oil and vinegar in which
vinegar largely predominates; stewed fruits, as apricots,
prunelles, apples, kumquats, cherries and plums, with little
sugar, better with none ; lean meats, rare beef and mutton,
roasted ; zweiback or gluten bread, or, if these be not avail-
able, then the crust, never the inner portion of wheaten
bread; green salads, as lettuce, romaine, chicory or cucum-
bers, with French dressing, reducing the usual amount of
oil and increasing that of the vinegar.

Eat as little as you can subsist on and maintain your
strength, of any of these. Remember, that while the stom-
ach of each adult equals in size that of a quart measure,
it is wise to only half fill it; that is, to take into it at no
time more than a pint of food or fluid, or of both combined.
The distended stomach causes many intestinal troubles.
One of the results is that always unsightly spectacle, a high
abdomen.

Foods it is wise for the stout beauty to avoid are: Fat

meats, gravies, pastries, cauliflower, potatoes, rice, lima
beans, chocolate, sweetened tea or coffee, candy, puddings
and milk.

The beauty with the persistently blotched skin requires
different food, less food, a more judicious dietary. For
her skin indicates some form of indigestion, and the first
step to cure indigestion is to give the digestive apparatus

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

162

less work to do. For that reason I should advise the beauty
with spots upon her countenance to try for a few hours, or,
if possible, a few days, the water cure. Let her, so far as
food is concerned, fast, if her physician permit, and live
as long as seems judicious on air and water. The furnace
of an engine must be cleansed occasionally of its clinkers.
So the intestinal tract must be cleansed of its obstructions.
I have said before in these pages that everyone should
drink three quarts of water a day. I repeat it. If the
stomach be very delicate the water may be taken hot, but,
as I have also said before, I have found that, while hot
water taken copiously into the stomach relieves a condition
temporarily, if the stomach continues habitually to be
flooded with it, it checks the flow of the gastric juices. The
gastric juices refuse to work, pettishly leaving their func-
tions to the intruder. Cold or cool water — never, let me
repeat, ice water — should be taken so that when it reaches
the stomach it is of nearly the same temperature. It should
be sipped and slowly swallowed; never, no matter how
thirsty one may be, gulped.

As well introduce a lump of ice suddenly into the
stomach as a tumblerful of cold water. If you have ever
by accident swallowed a lump of ice you know how painful
and violent is the stomach’s protest. Never drink more
than two glasses of water at a time. A pint, as I have
pointed out, is all that the stomach should be asked to re-
tain at one time. If the beauty, the charm of whose face
has been eclipsed by blotches, desires, she can increase the
amount of water by a quart or more, but this only when
she is taking no food. If she finds it more palatable, three
or four drops of lemon juice squeezed into a glass will help
the cleansing process. While she is taking the water cure
she should take as much exercise out of doors as her strength
will permit. She must not continue the exercise after she
becomes tired.

THE FOUNDATION FOR BEAUTY 163

This water cure can be assisted by flushing the colon with
warm water, a subject with which I may deal more fully
later. Sufficient at this time that the internal bath, given
as often as her physician directs, is of great aid to her who
would have a clear complexion.

The water and air cure has been continued, under medical
direction, for one day, three, even five or six days, with
beneficial results. The length will depend upon the strength
of the person taking the cure. When she resumes food
she would do well to begin with warm milk.

Beginning with one quart of milk a day, the quantity can
be increased to two and even three. It should be remem-
bered that milk is food, rather than a beverage, and should
be consumed as such. Not less than five minutes should be
given to drinking a glass of milk.

When food has been resumed bear in mind that if the
spots upon your face are caused by acne (blackheads) tea
and coffee should be avoided. So should pastry, cheese,
sauces and highly-seasoned foods. On the other hand the
beauty who would remove the small, black blemishes may
eat freely of well-cooked green vegetables and stewed fruits.
While following this cooling, cleansing regime, I would
suggest that pimples, roughnesses and spots will the more
quickly disappear if for three or more mornings the blood
be cooled by a dose of one teaspoonful of Epsom salts in
a glass of warm water.

For the beauties who are too thin a diet that will en-
rich the blood is recommended. For this condition fat
meats, gravies, lima beans, potatoes, rice, sweets — all those
things above which I have written the flaming sign “ Don’t ”
for stout beauties — should be eaten.

When the cheeks and lips are pale, the eyes dim, the
gait lagging and the body abnormally thin, these conditions
all indicate that there is a lack of iron in the system. I use
iron hypodermic injections myself, preferring them because

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

they save the stomach the disturbance that follows introduc-
ing medicines. But if there is an objection to this iron
may be taken in food form by eating the yolks of eggs,
spinach, beets and string beans.

The same dietary will help the woman whose hair is
falling or is prematurely gray. The results, though slow,
are beneficent.

I believe in fasting in moderation as an aid to the good
health upon which beauty depends. As fully as I indorse
the beauty device of staying in bed now and then for a day
or longer, if circumstances permit, one day of every ten,
I am convinced that an occasional fast is conducive to well
being.

Fasting confers benefits in general and in specific cases.
When persons are in that condition for which you have a
naive word of description, “ logy,” which means heavy and
listless, fasting serves an excellent purpose. Usually the
“ logy ” person has been overfed. Let her go back to
nature for a lesson on how to cure herself of this disorder.
When an animal has eaten too much it usually crawls away
to some dark and quiet place and fasts. That is what the
woman who has overtaxed her digestion should do. At
such times the animal drinks plentifully of water. So
should the human being.

When the digestion goes on strike humor it. Grant the
overworked stomach and intestines a holiday. Let them
suspend work for a time, but only for a short time. Better,
in my opinion, a forty-eight hour fast taken four times
a month than a fast taken for eight consecutive days.

In general, the body is better off for an occasional relief
to the digestive organs. But there are specific instances
of the fast being of great benefit.

For instance, I know a woman whose beautiful figure
was seriously marred by an enlarged abdomen. When she
came to me for advice I asked her to stand and to walk.

THE FOUNDATION FOR BEAUTY 165

I saw that she stood and walked well. Then I asked her
to sit, and I saw that her habit of sitting was correct. She
sat with her weight equally distributed and resting evenly
on the balls of her feet. She sat somewhat, though not
awkwardly, forward in her chair, so that her spine was
straight. In none of these postures was there any cause
for the thrusting forward of the abdomen. Her corsets
were good and new, neither too tight nor too loose. Be-
lieving that this puffy, vulgar appearance was due to some
form of indigestion, I suggested a short fast. I recom-
mended forty-eight hours without food and with plentiful
drinking of hot water, into each glassful of which was
squeezed the juice of a lemon.

She repeated this every week for five weeks, with no
unpleasant results and with the flattening of the abdomen
which she desired and which has greatly added to the love-
liness of her figure.

There is much in favor of the semi-fast, which is not so
great a shock to the system. When persons have passed
their thirty-fifth year it is wise to give no such shock to the
system. Better be as considerate of our own bodies as
we are of the feelings of our beloved friends. Begin gently
any radical departure in the habits of the body. For this
reason it is well to begin fasting by semi-fasting, or by
gradually diminishing the amount of food taken.

A plan that seems to me worthy is to forego solid foods,
and the first day subsist on milks, gruel or soup. Of these
the milk is better because more nourishing. Some persons
don’t like milk, but, it being the natural food, everyone
can train himself to like, or, at least, to swallow it. Some
to whom milk is repellent prevent its unpleasant after ef-
fects by placing in each glass a pinch of bicarbonate of
soda.

I allow my appetite to govern the amount and the fre-
quency of these meals of milk. I always remember that

1 66

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

milk is food and so consider that I eat, rather than drink,
it. Five minutes at least for a glass I always permit my-
self. Sometimes I take ten.

The stomach having been gently prepared for the change,
it is ready by the second day for the water and lemon.
The lemon juice not only makes the water more palatable,
but it stimulates the liver, so clearing the complexion.

When ready to break the fast I have found it well to
accustom the stomach to the change back to food by sipping
orange juice that has been pressed into a cup or glass, then
to begin eating again by consuming a small, sweet orange.
I returned to regular diet by the easy way of soups and
gruels. My longest fast was for four days, and I consider
that one or two days too long.

In fact, the safest method of fasting I consider the semi-
fast, with milk, gruels and soups that I have described.

Thus of the manner of fasts. Now as to their value.
Catarrh I have known to be greatly relieved, if not wholly
cured, by recurrent fasts. Rheumatism in its early stages
has yielded to repeated short fasts and care to avoid sweets
and beef in the intervals between these fasts.

Even nervousness, that form of it which is aggravated
by rich and heavy foods, I have known to disappear during
one of these silent and dark room fasts, the silence and
rest being, probably, the chief agents.

A fairly good rule to follow is that whenever the tongue
is coated the amount of food may be reduced, or we would
do well to have no food for a short time. The coated
tongue indicates that there is much dead, refuse matter,
like the choking ashes in a furnace, obstructing the body.
If you can fast until the tongue is once more clean and
red you will be the gainer.

Also when you feel your body, that is, when you are un-
pleasantly conscious of its weight and its handicap, a fast
will usually relieve you. But a warning. Do not under-

THE FOUNDATION FOR BEAUTY 167

take a fast while you are doing your heaviest work. Fast
when the demands upon you are lightest, and fast, if pos-
sible, alone, so that no one will be afflicted by the irritable
temper that is liable to follow.

No one looks her best when she has not had enough sleep.
Little lines come about the eyes, deep creases form in the
flesh about the mouth, the eyes lose their light, the facial
muscles their firmness, the complexion its freshness, and,
what is most important, the mind loses its alertness, when
we have not slept well. Irritability and supersensitiveness
show in face and manner.

Lack of sound sleep is due to two causes, a brain under-
nourished or over-stimulated. Sleeplessness, or fitful, rest-
less sleep, follows nervous derangement. There may be
indigestion, cause or result of nervousness. There may be
worry. There may be mental fag or nervous exhaustion.
But whatever form it takes the root of the matter is nearly
always in the nerves. This granted, we must look to re-
lieving the brain, the main station along the line, or we
must supply it what it needs.

Banish worry. Take plenty of exercise. Breathe much
fresh air. These are three excellent recipes for sleep.

If you find that you have been over- working, lighten your
work a little. Try to spend a day or two in the country,
if possible. But this, to a busy person, is sometimes out
of the question. If that is the case with you try to retire
an hour earlier. Some dread retiring earlier because they
say they know they will not sleep. Try it at any rate. Ly-
ing in a dark room will bring a sense of rest that should
soothe the nerves and tend toward sleep.

Make sure that the room is at the right temperature for
your comfort. If it is too warm you will surely not sleep.
If it is cold to the point of discomfort, you will lie awake.
Sixty degrees Fahr., or less, is a good temperature for a
sleeping room. Be sure that the air of your bedroom is

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

1 68

fresh. If it seems stale or stuffy open the windows wide
and either move actively about the room or go into any
other one while this freshening is taking place. It would
be much better if the airing had continued all day and the
air were as near the freshness of the out-of-doors as you
could make it.

If your head aches from the strain of the day, a bandage
of cracked ice should drive the excess of blood from the
head and permit sleep. If, on the other hand, you are
anaemic, and your feet are cold at night thrust them into
a tub of hot mustard water. Place the elbow in the water
first to test its temperature. If it is too hot for the elbow
it will certainly be too hot for the feet.

If you are annoyed, while lying awake, by a gnawing
of the stomach, proving that it is quite or nearly empty,
forestall this by sipping a cup of gruel before going to bed.
This will warm the stomach and quiet the nerve disturbance,
soothing the body for its rest.

A case of protracted insomnia I knew to be cured in this
simple and, it would seem, did I not know the results, trivial
manner. Lie flat upon the bed with a low pillow — or, bet-
ter, no pillow at all — and loosen your grip upon your
muscles. Uncurl them, so to speak. Relax as completely
as does your house dog when he sleeps with his body
stretched out, nose upon his paws, before the fire. Then
breathe very deeply but gently counting six at each respira-
tion. To aid in this deep breathing, press one nostril shut
by laying the forefinger firmly against it and drawing the air
through the other nostril. Repeat this a half dozen times,
counting six at each drawing in and letting out of the air.

Call into use the hot-water bottle or the warming pan.
Put on your bedroom slippers if you awake with cold feet.
Pretend that you are sleepy, even though you are not, and
let the eyelids slowly close as though drooping from their

THE FOUNDATION FOR BEAUTY 169

own weight or from weariness, over your eyes. This little
device alone has been helpful in cases of insomnia.

The Orientals give us good advice concerning sleep :
“ Compose yourself. Be calm. Think on pleasant events
before falling asleep,” say they, “ for upon whatever plane of
thought you enter sleep you will remain during your slum-
ber. And those thoughts will stamp themselves upon the
face.”

One of the greatest menaces to feminine beauty to-day is
nervousness — nervousness in all its forms, neuritis, neu-
rasthenia, nervous prostration, hysteria. All these prove
that the little silver wires have been drawn too taut and
that they are at the snapping point.

Old age is the specter that stalks in the path of beauty.
It is the only thing of which beauty is afraid. But nervous-
ness presages age and the appearance of age. Observe one
of your friends after a nervous attack. She looks ten years
older. The tumult of her emotions has etched ugly new
lines in her face, from nose to lips, along the temples and
between the eyes. If she catches sight of her face in the
mirror at such a time she is appalled, for she has a vision of
the sort of old woman she will become.

To keep young, discourage very nervous outbreak.
Every woman needs a calm mental center. She must have
some place of spiritual and mental retreat from her tumult
of soul if it is only the reflection : “In a year it won’t

matter.” She should fly to this whenever a tumult of the
nerves threatens. I know a woman who cured her habit
of flying into tempers, which is only another expression of
jangled nerves, by saying over and over to herself :

“ It is vulgar to show temper. Whatever else I am I will
not be vulgar.”

Her face, which had begun to show the etching of deep,
stormy emotions has become a smooth, beautiful mask,

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

whose expression lies where expression should, in the flash
of a sudden smile and the quick lighting of brilliant eyes.

Need I recount the symptoms of disordered nerves?
Not to mature women. They know them too well. But
for the benefit of my younger readers to whom nerves are
yet happily only names, I will describe a few.

Irritability of temper is one, the most common, and the
one which occasions the least sympathy.

Exceeding sensitiveness, which makes the person prone
to take offense when no offense is intended, is another.

Depression of spirits as often results from tired nerves as
from an overburdened liver.

The habit of “ making monkey faces ” which I have so
often noticed in American women.

The habit of making many and needless movements.
The girl who flings her head aloft in aimless little gestures
may think she is vivacious, but vivacity is rather of the
mind than of the body. She is merely revealing the un-
pleasant secret that her nervous system is impaired.

Capricious appetite is one of the symptoms. The nerv-
ous patient eats either too little or too much, and she may
eat too little breakfast and too much dinner on the same
day.

Insomnia is a sure and serious sign of derangement of
the nerves.

The inability to sit still for a considerable time is still
another and very bad sign that the nerves are as you say
here “ ragged ” or “ jumpy.”

I have seen one of your most distinguished and beautiful
women suffer from this inability while at the theater, and
to preclude jokes by the paragraphers, I will explain that
it was at a very good play, where no person in the normal
state could possibly be bored. I have seen her lovely hands
twitch in her lap. I have seen her knees create a silken

THE FOUNDATION FOR BEAUTY lyi

tempest among the folds of her gown. Into her face I have
seen “ that worried look ” come, the look that so disfigures
the average American face.

This overwrought state of nerves has many causes.
Sometimes it is a bad heredity. The daughters of men
with the alcoholic habit, of overworked and over-worried
financiers, often suffer from this predisposition of nerves.
The daughters of fashionable mothers who laced too tightly
or who followed the will-o’-the-wisp of society too per-
sistently for their health’s sake, often so suffer.

Stimulants taken by the victim herself often produce it.
Beware of these stimulants in many guises. Some of the
headache powders open the gate to acute nervousness.
Don’t use any without your physician’s endorsement.

But I believe that the chief cause of nervousness is in-
temperance, not of alcoholic or other stimulants, but of
mental habits. Worry causes a thousand breakdowns. I
never knew work to cause one.

For those symptoms of nervous affection which I have
mentioned I have tried home treatment with success. One
of the best methods has been stretching. Standing on my
tiptoes, raising my heels far from the floor, standing as
nearly in that straight line from toe to knee which Genee
does so admirably, as I can, I stretch and stretch my body,
fancying I am an India rubber woman and getting great fun
out of trying just how tall I can make myself. Sometimes
I raise my arms above my head with finger tips extended,
and play again that I am trying to reach the ceiling.

The value in stretching is largely in the pleasure one
gets from it. For this reason I never continue one posture
after it has become tiresome. Dropping to my heels and
standing with my soles flat upon the floor, I stretch the arms
out at right angles with the sides. The fact that one is
always moved to yawn with this exercise shows that it

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

is valuable. For yawning is nature’s violent means of
ridding the body of an excess of impure air and securing
a new supply.

If you can yawn naturally, do so while stretching or at
any other time. If you cannot yawn naturally, yawn artifi-
cially— that is, simulate a yawn. It is at least as helpful to
respiration as the Turkish bath is to perspiration. They
are both substitutes for the natural process.

Lettuce salad, both at luncheon and dinner, or raw onions
eaten with bread and butter at night before retiring, calm
the nerves and aid sleep.

Light — that is surface — massage is a good corrective
for nervousness. Deep, seeking-the-bone massage, which
is used for liver complaint and for obesity, is too severe for
the nervous patient. Besides, so many of the nerves lie
near the skin that the region of the skin is the real seat of
operations for cure. Light massage by coaxing the blood
to the surface and inducing a new and stronger interflow
among the nerves, feeds and strengthens them.

Electrical treatment applied to the seat of the nervous
affection, as well as to the spine, is a means that has stim-
ulated many depressed, nervous patients. This I advise
only under the supervision, or at least by the direction, of
a physician.

Long walks, and for disturbed nerves walking is better
than driving, have cured many cases of nerve exhaustion.

Cold plunges or showers are recommended by many
physicians for diminished nerve force. But the patient
should be sure the advice is adapted to her individual case,
and she should be sure of her heart. Neither the plunge
nor the shower should be taken until a physician has pre-
scribed them.

Cold sprays upon the spine given at Turkish baths are
tonic to the nervous system. They, too, can be applied at
home. The rubber tube fixtures for a spray can be bought

THE FOUNDATION FOR BEAUTY 173

for ninety cents, and can take the place of the expensive
shower attachments.

For tic douloreux, for pains at the ends of the nerves, for
spinal affections and for vertigo, one needs the aid of a
physician. But in all nervous affections we must aid the
physician by intelligent care of ourselves and conservation
of our energies. Never waste your nervous force by un-
necessary movements.

Deep breathing is helpful in correcting a nervous tendency,
and improving the general health. This is no strange or
obscure act. It is simply breathing as deeply as you can,
from the very depths of your being, “ clear to your toes,”
a little girl put it — not breathing shallowly from a space
somewhere near the collarbone.

I always recognize a shallow breather at sight. Usually
she is round shouldered. Always she has a pale skin,
pinched nostrils, dull eyes and a languid walk. Always she
has little or no magnetism. The magnetic person is one
who is most fully alive.

But how to acquire the habit of deep breathing is the
important thing. Summon imagination to your aid. Stand
at the open window or go to a garden or to a roof where
the air is purest, and imagine that you smell the fragrance
of a rose. Determine to draw into your being all the
fragrance you can gather.

Stand erect and draw in as much air as your lungs seem
capable of holding. Hold that breath ; that is, keep the air
in the lungs so that it may do its cleansing work, while you
count five. That is equivalent to five seconds. Gently
empty the lungs of the air. Then slowly fill the lungs again,
hold as long as you can and slowly expel the air. You will
learn to hold the breath longer and longer. Expert and
experienced deep breathers can hold the air newly taken
into the lungs for fifty seconds. But no beginner in the
art should expect, nor try to do this. At first the practice

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

may cause a sensation of dizziness. But this is not alarm-
ing. On the other hand, it is encouraging. It means that
the poor, pale, ill-nourished brain is receiving as large a
blood supply as it needs and it will soon become used to
your new generosity.

If you are not so situated that you can get to a garden,
a roof or open window, try to go alone to a room where
you can recline for a few minutes. There let the muscles
become limp. Folding the arms above the breast or clasp-
ing the hands loosely above the stomach will aid this.

To be sure that both nostrils are doing perfect work,
press one shut by placing the finger against it and breathing
through the other. Generally you will discover that the
left nostril draws a larger volume of air through it than
does the right. I have noticed it very frequently while
doing my deep breathing.

Test the correctness of your breathing by placing your
hands against your abdomen. If its walls rise and fall
regularly and in obedience to every breath, you are doing
deep breathing. If not, you have not mastered the art.

In two' weeks, by repeating these exercises six or eight
times a day for two or three minutes each time, you will
not only have learned how, but you will have derived such
benefit from it that you would not ever forget giving up
so healthful and improving a practice.

What does it do for one? I can hear as an echo this
question, impatiently put by practical American women.
That is the feminine variation of the question often heard
in America : “ What do I get out of it ? ”

You get out of it free, well developed lungs. You get
chest expansion. You get, if you begin early enough, im-
munity from that dread disease, tuberculosis. You get
quieted nerves and an improved temper. You get pure
blood which will make your complexion clear. You
energize the whole body and stimulate your vital forces.

CHAPTER XIII

HOW TO ACQUIRE A PLEASING VOICE

IF you would have a beautiful voice shun its two greatest
enemies, coryza (cold in the head) and the evil emo-
tions.

Every woman would have a beautiful voice, for it is in-
deed one of the most excellent things in woman. To my
mind it is the most desirable possession in the world. But
then I am a singer. I wish only to be a singer. If the
singing voice were denied me I should choose, if I might
have my choice, first a lovely face, then a lovely figure, and
third a charming speaking voice.

There have been beautiful women without agreeable
voices, but never a fascinating one. The voice rather than
the eyes is the seat of magnetism. Many a plain woman
has enjoyed that invaluable gift of personal magnetism and
students of character have been baffled by it until they
guessed the riddle of her voice. Plain women with low, well
modulated voices with the heart note in them, are more
dangerous rivals than pretty women who screech as pea-
cocks. Painfully often the pretty face and figure are ac-
companied by the harsh, squeaking voice. The reason is
the same that exists for the fact that pretty women seldom
cultivate the power of charm. Content with what nature
has given them, they make no effort to be responsive or
entertaining. Their voices fall gratingly upon all ears but
their own, which have been dulled by praise of their natural
beauty.

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Every woman may not have a sweet voice, but every
woman may have an agreeable one. The pleasantest speak-
ing voice is more often made than born. It is susceptible
of cultivation.

The uncultivated voice reflects the emotions as candidly
as the eye mirror forth the soul. Culture of person and
voice gradually suppress, or at least restrain, this faculty.
If the voice be pleasant it should reflect only pleasant
things. This, let it be understood, applies only to the speak-
ing voice. I am not giving in this article a singing lesson.

Anger, suspicion, jealousy, covetousness, if they be felt,
must be imprisoned in the spirit. As disfiguring to voice
as face are these which have been called “ the dark emo-
tions.” If they cannot be eliminated from the soul they
must be driven out of the voice. The dark emotions make
the voice harsh. The silly emotions make it shrill. Mental
and character poise are the father and mother of the beauti-
ful speaking voice.

Coryza (cold in the head) is a menace to the voice.
Hoarseness hides the beauties of a voice as a thick veil
the face of a woman. Colds should be avoided. Or hav-
ing been contracted, they should as quickly as possible be
cured.

Many women of full habit who, as they say, “ feel a
cold coming on,” go immediately to the Turkish baths,
and by drastic treatment rid themselves quickly of it. This,
if followed by great care to prevent catching a fresh cold
immediately after the bath, is a good remedy. So, too, is
the ancient one of retiring early and with many blankets
added to the usual amount of bed clothing to coax a heavy
perspiration. This can be greatly aided by the other old-
fashioned remedy of a glass of hot lemonade. A moderate
dose of quinine is also effective in “ breaking* up a cold.”

The roots of the disease having thus been plucked up,
the accompanying ugliness caused by rheumy eyes, swollen,

TO ACQUIRE A PLEASING VOICE 177

scarlet nose and “ running ” nostrils, can be gradually cured
by inhalations and gargles.

A yeoman remedy is the sniffing into the nostrils of
quite strong salt water. Another that is excellent is the
sniffing of pulverized camphor. A third is a nasal sweep-
ing by the inhalation of ammonia.

Strong aromatic vinegars serve the same purpose. This
is a valuable one, agreeable and less expensive than the
elaborate one used by the beauties of the French court:

Glacial acetic acid, i}i ounces; rose water, 2j4 ounces;
lavender water, 1 pint.

This is powerful as well as pleasing and will reward the
user for the pains of mixing the many ingredients :

Glacial acetic acid, y2 pound; rectified spirits of wine, 1
ounce ; oil of neroli, J4 dram ; oil of allspice, *4 dram ; oil of
lavender, y dram; pure oil of cinnamon, }4 dram; oil of
bergamot, J4 dram ; oil of rosemary, J4 dram ; oil of cloves,
yA dram; pulverized camphor, ij4 ounces. This is very
strong and age makes it stronger. It is most advantage-
ously used by pouring a few drops of it upon a silk sponge
and inhaling. Avoid its contact with skin and clothes.

A third tonic vinegar useful for inhalation is this :

White vinegar, 1 pint; extract of lavender, 15 grams;
oil of bergamot, 6 grams; oil of citron, 5 grams; tincture
of benzoin, 6 grams.

Sage tea in which a small quantity of eucalyptus has been
distilled is excellent for cleansing the nasal cavities after a
cold.

Beauties of many courts and times have removed the
husky quality from their voices by inhaling the vapor from
a concoction of :

Sweet milk, 1 pint ; ripe figs, J4 dozen. These should be
boiled to a pulp and inhaled while hot. The mixture can be
heated again and again and the vapor from it inhaled, until
the cure is effected.

i78

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

I am glad to see that fig and apricot paste has been
imported from the Orient, for Persian women have suc-
cessfully used this jam-like confection and medicine for
many generations for the cure of hoarseness.

Weak elderflower tea is an admirable remedy. An in-
fusion of chickweed is also recommended. These latter
should be inhaled. The fig and apricot paste is, of course,
for internal use.

Mme. Pompadour, the famous French beauty, used to
clear her voice of huskiness by inhaling the fumes of :

Pulverized myrrh, i ounce ; amber, 50 grains.

A husky voice indicates that the throat is dry. Our
ancestresses knew this and made their children drink much
sweet milk or buttermilk to remove hoarseness. The poor
singer seeking relief from that distress by sucking a lemon
has been a subject for caricaturists for twenty years. But
the ludicrous practice has a basis in common sense. A
lemon is a broom for the throat. A raw egg beaten with
the lemon juice serves that purpose and is soothing to the
burning throat.

While I was singing in Philadelphia I acquired a bad
cold. One of the old families who had always extended
me the courtesy of their home and friendship offered me
a cough syrup they called “ Stewed Quaker.” It was so
quickly efficacious that I asked for the formula. Here it
is:

New Orleans molasses, y2 pint; butter, 1 tablespoon ful ;
white sugar, 1 teaspoonful ; vinegar, 1 tablespoon ful.

Cold compresses often cure a sore throat over night. Into
ice cold water dip a fold of cotton cloth. Wring it out
only dry enough to prevent its dripping. Pin this tightly
around the throat with safely pins, and over the compress
pin a fold of flannel. Soon the heat from the neck causes
vapor and “ loosens the cold.” In the morning remove the
compress and massage the neck with olive oil.

TO ACQUIRE A PLEASING VOICE 179

If you value your voice try to avoid that protracted un-
pleasantness which is known as a summer cold.

To best understand how to prevent a cold, let us perfectly
understand its causes. I say causes, not cause for an
authority on the subject has recently said that there are
four conditions that bring about the annoying and dangerous
condition we call “ a cold.”

There must be lowered vitality. In other words, a person
may be in that state we describe as “ run down.” When we
are run down or “ seedy,” as they say in England, our
resistance is lessened; we are like a besieged town whose
walls are falling. In this unprotected state we have little
chance against a cold.

A similar condition is fatigue. We are more prone to
catch cold when we are tired, because the good white cor-
puscles in the blood, the body’s defenders, are lessened by
weariness. Also fatigue creates an excess of certain gases
in the body, carbonic acid gas among others, and these
self-poisons weaken the body and open the doors to cold.

Now, how to prevent a cold. Keep your liver active.
If it becomes lazy take plenty of exercise to stir it into
activity. If the liver is torpid, the poison it should take
care of is cast upon the mucous membrane, irritating it
and causing catarrh.

Be sure that your digestion is the best and that the in-
testinal tract is kept clear. Unless you do this there may
be an irritation of the lining of the intestines that will
cause all of the alimentary tract to become catarrhal. This,
in turn, will extend to the nose and throat. To avoid in-
digestion, be careful that you eat only nourishing foods.
Tuberculosis is more common in the poorer quarters of
every city, especially of London, and physicians have con-
cluded that this is not because they do not have enough
to eat, but because they eat too many starchy foods, as
pastry and potatoes, and too many sweets, as candy.

i8o

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

Prevent a cold by activity. Why do you catch a cold when
you lie down without any covering except the garments
you are wearing? Because when you are inactive your
body is relaxed and the temperature is lowered. Exercise
much, keep the blood flowing briskly, and you will generally
avoid colds.

But be not satisfied with avoiding stagnant blood. Avoid
stagnant air. Keep the air circulating in the room you oc-
cupy. Try to keep a stream of fresh air flowing through
your room. At any rate, keep the window open two or three
inches at the top, no matter what the weather.

Cold plunge or shower or sponge baths harden the skin
and help to make one immune from colds, but before be-
ginning to take them ask a physician’s advice. You may
not have enough vitality to endure the ordeal. If you have
your physician’s “ O. K.,” the best time to begin is in the
summer.

Avoid coughing when you can, for coughing is some-
times merely a nervous habit. Besides, a cough irritates
the lining of the throat.

The old-fashioned remedy for a cold, of swallowing a
mixture of equal parts of vinegar and molasses, is as good
now as it was when our grandmothers dosed us plentifully
and effectually for hoarseness. A pleasanter and perhaps
more refined remedy is the plentiful use of honey. Use
it freely on bread or with rice at table and swallow a table-
spoonful of it whenever between meals you feel the tickling
sensation that precedes coughing.

Gargling with strong salt water often clears the throat,
saving fits of violent coughing.

A good method, and a simple one, of relief from violent
coughing is to place upon the chest hot cloths, followed by
cold ones, then hot, then cold, so alternating many times.
This reestablishes natural circulation and restored circula-
tion means relief from cold.

CHAPTER XIV

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR FIGURE

FRANKLY determine how far your figure falls short
of perfection. Perfection, that is, according to the
canons of classic statuary. The standards of the Greek
sculptors have never been improved. These are their un-
deviating rules:

The figure should be exactly six times as long as the
foot. The face from the middle point of the hair line to
the point of the chin should be one-tenth of the entire
stature. The hand from the tip of the middle finger
to the end of the palm should be of the same length as
the face, and so also one-tenth of the length of the body.
From the highest point of the forehead to the beginning of
the chest should be one-seventh of the length of the body.

If the face from the hair line to the point of the chin
is divided into three parts the first line of division is the
point equidistant from the lowest points of the eyebrows.
The second division line is that directly beneath the nostrils.

The body when standing with the arms extended horizon-
tally should form a human Maltese cross. The length of
the body should be the same as the distance across the
body from the middle finger of one hand to the middle finger
of the other.

The ideal face of the sculptors has always been pear-
shaped, diminishing from a noble width at the forehead and
top of the head to a slim delicacy of chin. The trend of
feature formation in this age of personal dominance is in
another direction, toward a widening and increasing of the
181

182

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

weight of the jaw. This adds to the impression of strength
of character, but it subtracts much from the sum of the
beauty of a face.

I have referred to the face because I wish to apply it
as a determining factor in judging the beauty of the figure.
The sculptor’s test of the beauty of a face is its profile.
If the profile is strong and beautiful, the face is equally
strong and beautiful. In other words, the beauty of a face
cannot exceed that of its profile. So the determining view
of a figure as to its beauties or its defects is the profile
view. The woman who would improve her figure should
study it critically from the side. For this reason, the woman
who sells her easy chair and buys a duplex or triple mirror
is an economist of her own beauty.

Determine in what respect your figure varies from the
canons of beauty, and try to conform to them. Are you a
little too short for the breadth of your figure? Stretch-
ing exercises should add somewhat to your height. Stand
before the open window, and with hands back to back, the
finger tips touching, rise upon your toes and stretch to your
greatest height.

So the woman who would be taller should recline a great
deal, take as much sleep as possible. Physiologists have
proven that the body is considerably taller in the morning
than in the evening. This is because the muscles and
joints have relaxed, while during the varied exercises of
the day they have contracted. The mass of muscles have
much in common with india rubber — they have elastic
properties.

The critical view in the duplex or triple mirror may re-
veal that the figure is too broad or too thick for its height.
If too broad the defect is serious, and will be difficult, if
not impossible, of remedy. If too thick, diet, exercise or
massage, or all of these, may be summoned. Breadth re-
veals the framework of the body, indicating usually that it

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR FIGURE 183

is too massive. You cannot change the framework of a
bridge, nor yet of the human body. The modification must
take place in that which covers it, the layers of muscles
and fat. The figure that is too thick, that is from front
to back of waist, or from the middle of the spinal column
to the point of the bust, may be materially improved.

For this improvement I would look first to the back —
I always notice instantly whether the back be straight and
flat or round and full. For in that difference lies much of
the elegance or lack of it in a female figure. If the back is
full and the hips bulge, the waist is large the figure has no
elegance; is, indeed, common. If you are the possessor
of such blemishes to beauty you should at once set at work
to remove the defects.

First give attention to your diet. Eat much less than
usual. Say reduce your diet at the beginning by one-
quarter, then one-third, and after that one-half. The slim-
ming results will soon become apparent.

But do not be satisfied with one means of securing a
flatter back and slender hips. Exercise, especially in the
open air. Walk, walk, walk, beginning with a short walk
if you are unaccustomed to walking, and increasing the
distance each day.

And if possible have recourse to massage. I have be-
fore said in this series of articles that I consider massage
the first aid to beauty. It has always seemed to me a
cure-all for defects in beauty. It improves the complexion,
improves the figure, brightens the expression and makes
more beautiful the eyes. Therefore, to give the flat back
and narrow hips that are part of an elegant figure, I ad-
vise deep massage, with an astringent liquid preparation.

Some adventurous women have taken internal remedies
under the advice of their physician, which is the only safe
way to take any internal obesity medicine. I have never
advised reduction remedies to be so taken. By absorption,

1 84 MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

however, I consider this to be a good remedy for over-
development :

Oil of sweet almonds, 4 ounces; tincture of benzoin, 1
dram ; extract of Portugal, 4 ounces ; oil of neroli, 20 drops.

This, too, is a good astringent lotion:

Tincture of iodine, 30 minims ; iodide of potassium, 60
grams; distilled water, 10 ounces; aniseed water, 170
minims.

Also this:

Tincture of iodine, 1 ounce; alcohol, 10 ounces.

If, on the other hand, the critical side view reveals not
only the back and sides as too thin, but the entire outline
as too meager, then this cream, freely applied by light and
frequent massage, is an aid in curve-making and flesh-
building :

Fresh mutton tallow, 6 ounces; lanolin, 6 ounces; sper-
maceti, ounce; cocoanut oil, 4 ounces.

This, too, is a good tissue-feeding cream:

Lanolin, 60 grams; oil of sweet almonds, 40 grams; tan-
nin, 1 gram.

Women who think their busts are too large write me
often asking how they may reduce them. Personally, I
do not approve of any treatment, except a general dietary
and general exercise, such as tends to reduce all portions of
the body. In view of the many requests I receive from
determined women begging such a recipe, I give this Euro-
pean formula, but I protest against any woman using it
unless with the sanction of her physician:

Oil of sweet almonds, 100 grams ; white wax, 50 grams ;
tincture of benzoin, 25 grams; rosewater, 25 grams; tan-
nin, 15 grams.

After exercise and diet for improving the figure, there is
nothing so important as to be well corseted. If possible
have your corsets made to order. Pay less for a gown if
necessary to order a better corset. Get one that is pliable

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR FIGURE 185

and hygienic and yet molds the figure into its best lines.
To fit well the hips should be the first consideration. The
rest of the body can take very good care of itself. Yet the
corset should not be too tight about the hips nor abdomen.
For this reason I always advise that there be rubber web-
bing in the sides of the corset.

Every corset should have eight elastics. Yes, I mean it
— four on each side. These elastics not only hold the hose
in well, but they hold in the abdomen and hips. The first
pair of elastics should be fastened directly in front, on
either side of the steel fronts of the corset. The next pair
should be about an inch, or on a very stout woman two
inches, to the right and left respectively. The third pair
should be directly over the hips. The fourth should be at
the back. While at first this maze of garters seems a hope-
less tangle, one soon acquires the knack of fastening them.
They add much to the trigness and tautness that contribute
elegance to the figure.

The fourth desideratum is a good carriage. Keep the
shoulders and abdomen back. Keep the bust and the chin
up. Swing the hips well forward when you walk. Ob-
serve all women who are stout, that is, heavily stout.
There is a distinction. Women may be stout and yet carry
their bodies as though they were weightless. Others of no
greater bulk walk as though they were weighted down with
invisible handicaps.

The heavily stout woman walks with her hips back. In
this faulty carriage lies much of her awkwardness and ap-
parent weight. Walk on the balls of your feet, lightly.
This becomes a habit that renders a woman graceful and
almost without apparent weight.

For the consolation of women who have shapely figures,
though built upon an ample scale, let me quote this dictum
of an authority on womanly beauty : “ It isn’t the size, but

the shape that counts. Proportion is the thing.”

1 86

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

Some women are really tall enough, but they look dumpy.
The thing for them to do at once is to reduce their weight.
“ If you reduce your hips you will look taller ” is an axiom
of the beauty culturists. So set about it. If you are short
and thin, then hasten to broaden your shoulders, expand
and inflate your lungs ; draw back your elbows and breathe
deeply. Fill out your bust and chest. This will actually
make you taller and appear more so.

Short girls generally carry themselves badly. Keep your
head thrown back and your chin out. The woman who
keeps her chin down in her neck always looks shorter than
she is. Take physical culture lessons, all you short girls
who would be tall ; learn to walk gracefully, and train your
muscles into suppleness. Take walks in the open air with
a light, buoyant step, your shoulders thrown back, breathing
deeply through your nose. And stretch yourself, every
moment of the day when you can.

Three inches, real or apparent, may be added to a
woman’s stature by a little common sense.

The short girl who would be tall should go in systemat-
ically for stretching exercises. Lie down flat and stretch
out your arms as far as possible above your head. Also
practice neck movements — keep on stretching your neck
out just like a goose, to elongate it. Stretch your legs out
taut and keep stretching yourself on tiptoe. Hold up your
chin and your abdomen, and stretch continually. Here are
some excellent stretching exercises to make you supple and
straight — and taller:

Lie flat on your back on a hard mattress. Plant palms
downward straight at the sides, but do not grip the ticking
with them. Now draw the legs up slowly, bending at the
knees, and holding the knees in the air and heels close to
the body. Now, with a quick, sudden movement, thrust the
legs out straight and flat on the bed, the toes stretched as
far as possible and pointing down. This brings into play

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR FIGURE 187

every muscle from the knee to the tip of the toes and sets
the limbs tingling. Draw up slowly, counting seven and
inhaling; hold position through seven counts, and again
thrust down, exhaling through the mouth. Rest four
counts and repeat.

Lie flat on the back, heels and balls of the feet together,
arms at sides, palms down. Breathe slowly seven times.
Now, with the shoulders or upper part of the trunk rigidly
flat on the bed, raise the middle of the trunk, generally
known as the waist line, by the muscles of the hips. Inhale
as you lift, counting seven ; exhale as you fall. Next inhale
deeply and lift the lower part of the trunk and let it fall in
quick succession, repeating the movement perhaps five times
while inhaling once.

Reverse the exercise described above; that is, let the
lower part of the trunk rest on the bed and lift from the
waist line up by means of the muscles of the shoulder
blades. Use the same methods of counting, inhaling while
counting seven; hold the position, then lower the trunk,
counting seven, and exhaling. Then work rapidly, with
five quick uplifts to each breath.

It is well to scan your figure occasionally in the mirror
— to satisfactorily do this you need a full length mirror —
and decide what are its flaws and how to rid yourself of
them.

Perhaps you have a disfiguring stoop. Rid yourself of
this, if necessary, by wearing shoulder braces. You can
buy strong, reliable ones at most drug stores, and you can
make them for yourself with two strong stitched bands of
muslin to which cross pieces are attached. Fasten these to
your corsets by safety pins. Perhaps that apparent stoop
is due not to actual bending of the shoulders but to a roll
of superfluous fat that accumulates just below the neck on
women who have attained thirty years, or even before.
Remove this unsightly blemish by several methods. First,

1 88

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

throw away your pillow and lie with head and feet on a
level. Form the habit of standing very erect. Stretch
your arms sideways and on a level with your shoulders
and twirl them rapidly backward.

There are always several preparations which can be used
to advantage if applied outwardly. Bathe the shoulders
every night with this, rubbing it thoroughly into the
shoulders :

Iodide of potassium, i ounce; alcohol, 12 ounces.

If your limbs are too heavy, as is liable to be the case
in America, where women’s figures are not so well propor-
tioned as in many other countries, the lower part of the
body being disposed to stoutness, walk much. This will
reduce the bulk of the fat and make the muscles solid.
Occasionally I receive letters asking me to tell a girl how
to make the limbs larger and more shapely. Massage with
olive oil should enlarge them. To inquiries as to how to
make the thin ankles plumper I make the same reply.

No figure is attractive if the hips are out of proportion
to the rest of the body. They should be neither too large
nor too small, but in perfect accord with the rest of the
figure. If the rest of the figure is thin and the hips plump
the effect is ludicrous. If the body is ample and the hips
flat the hips are incongruous. Fashion may dictate broad
hips one season and narrow hips the next, but their ideal
size remains the same. They must look as though they
belong to that body and no other.

They should be amphora shaped, as any sculptor will tell
you. An amphora, you know, is a large Roman vase with
lines exquisitely curved downward. Study the pictures of
statues of the ancient Greeks and you will comprehend the
beauty of the hip line in the natural figure. They are
neither over heavy nor too thin.

The bones should be well covered, but there should be
no fat creases and no loose hanging skin. If there is too

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR FIGURE 189

little flesh applications of olive oil will increase it. But the
fault in the American woman’s figure is that she is unduly
developed about the hips. For this figure blemish it would
be absurd to bant, for her whole body would diminish
under it and the hips remain proportionately as large as
before. Massage and exercise are the hope of the woman
of overdeveloped hips. Rub briskly and firmly, with a
strong slapping motion, this mixture, prepared especially
for each application.

Unsweetened butter, 1 tablespoonful; tincture of iodine,
20 drops.

Long corsets that are not too tight keep up a continual
gentle friction that helps to some extent in reducing the
hips, but these should never be worn so tight as to com-
press the inner organs nor constrict the muscles. Better
too redundant hips than an interference with the circula-
tion, which may cause varicose veins or other serious com-
plications.

These exercises are simple, but will be found exceedingly
helpful if persevered in, in diminishing the hips :

First, stand perfectly erect ; the knees should not be bent.
The heels should be held together. The palms of the hands
should rest firmly upon the hips.

Second, swing the right leg slowly and firmly sidewise,
raising the foot as high as you can. This should not be
suddenly or violently done. Rest the weight of the body
firmly on the left foot while so doing. Kick thus slowly a
half dozen times or more, until the muscles begin to be
weary. Then shift the weight to the right foot and kick
in the same fashion with the left.

Third, stand with the weight on one foot and raise the
other leg slowly, until it is on a level with the trunk. Lower
the foot and repeat this exercise many times until you
begin to grow weary. Then change the weight to that foot
and repeat the exercise with the other leg.

190

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

Fourth, stand as I at first described, the body straight,
the chest and head high, the heels together. Raise the
hands sidewise above the head, bringing the tips of the
fingers together. Then, in the posture that swimmers take
before they dive, bend slowly forward, keeping the knees
straight, until the finger tips reach the ground. Repeat this
until fatigue warns you to stop. Never exercise until
weary.

But even a perfect figure avails little unless you have
grace. When I am asked how to be graceful, I answer:
“ Be careful of your movements when alone and uncon-
scious of them when you are in public.” Grace can be cul-
tivated. There is no excuse for a woman who is not de-
formed being awkward. There are degrees in grace, but
every woman may possess it to some extent.

To the woman who wishes to enhance her natural grace,
or who, having none, desires to add it to her charms, I
advise first of all the study of great paintings and statuary
that are models of line and poise. -Line is important, but
I have seen women who were all straight lines, to whom
nature had given not one gracious curve, who were never-
theless graceful. The long, flowing lines of grace may be
assisted by careful dressing, and this a dressmaker may do
for us, but poise, which is a much bigger and better word
than pose, including pose and much more, comes from
within and may be self taught.

I wish that every woman who reads this chapter would
pay a visit to the nearest art gallery and study, if there be
one, a good copy of the wonderful Venus de Milo. Let her
study it until something of the inward strength which gives
it its wonderful balance and power and perfect symmetry
is revealed to her.

One of the secrets of that marvelous statue is the calm
soul it expresses. Again and again I have said that
serenity is the chief secret of beauty, and I point to the

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR FIGURE 191

Venus de Milo in proof of my assertion. The nervous,
distraught, ill-centered woman reveals her soul state by
nervous, abrupt awkward movements.

Compose yourself inwardly and see with what grace
and strength you stand before your mirror. Permit some
emotion to disturb you, and note the ravaging, unlovely
effect. Grace is poise, and poise means a calm soul cen-
ter.

For a graceful carriage we must consider how to stand,
how to walk and how to sit. The late Heinrich Conried,
being asked to describe a beautiful woman, said : “ That

is simple. She is harmonious.’’ What he meant was that
she was harmonious within and harmonious without, the
inward harmony revealing itself in the outer. There was
no discord in her. To stand in a drawing room as you
would stand on the ledge of a mountain would be inhar-
monious. To sit on a high-backed chair with straight lines,
as you would sit upon an ottoman, or a tete-a-tete would
be strikingly discordant. To walk into a ballroom as you
would set forth for a walk along the beach would be ludi-
crous. There must be in every movement harmony with
your surroundings, and you must yourself be governed by
the immediate circumstances.

Lola Montez, the enchanting dancer and the dancing en-
chantress, well knew the value of a graceful carriage and
of the cheerful spirit of which it is an expression. She
said: “A crushed, sad, or moping spirit, especially if al-

lowed at a tender age, when the body is forming, is a fatal
cause of a flabby and moping body. A bent and stooping
form is quite sure to come of a bent and stooping spirit.
If you would stand well, sit well, walk well, lie well, * sway
gracefully on the poised waist ’ as upon a pivot.”

Given a straight healthy spine, straight, strong bones and
the serene spirit of which I have spoken, and there remains
for grace two necessities, knowledge and training. One

192 MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

must know how to hold the body correctly before she can
so hold it.

The correct position, one in which the balance of all
parts of the body is perfectly preserved, is almost, but not
quite, erect. It should incline very slightly forward, above
the hips. The weight of the body should rest firmly upon
the balls of the feet. The heels should be close together.
The knees should also be close neighbors. The arms in
standing should hang naturally at the sides with the elbows
close to the sides.

One position only is proper for the chin. It should be
well up. Notice any woman whose chin is lowered.
Shadows fall about the hollows of the face, or create an
illusion of hollows there. Every woman looks five years
older with her chin lowered. Also such a pose of the head
will make wrinkles in the fairest and plumpest neck.
Nature designed woman to hold her head as proudly as
that of a mettlesome horse. The chest should be held up
and out.

Observe how a well-trained soldier stands on parade.
That is an excellent model. He appears to have no abdo-
men, so well is it held in. His shoulder blades are flat as
a knife.

If the shoulder blades are not naturally flat, shoulder
braces should be worn to correct the projecting ones and
to destroy the round-shouldered effect so destructive of
the beauty of a figure. These can be purchased at drug
stores and department stores, but can be made at home at
slight cost. Stitch two long strips of coutil two and a half
inches wide in many parallel rows to make it strong.
Fasten these at the back just over the shoulders with
another horizontal stitched band of the same width. A
simple exercise for sagging shoulders is to draw the arms
behind you, bend them at the elbows and thrust a cane
between the elbows and back.

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR FIGURE 193

Practice the proper posture in standing before the mirror.
Study not only the front, but the profile view of your figure.
If the chest sags, thrust it forward. If the abdomen pro-
trudes, determinedly shift your weight so that it recedes.
The prominent abdomen in half the cases I know is simply
the result of bad habits of standing. If the shoulders curve
forward, draw yourself erect until they are flat.

If you find your weight resting upon the heels, your
figure will look awkward and countrified. If you rest upon
the toes, it will look mincing and affected. Nature has in-
dicated that to keep the balance of the body the weight must
fall upon the balls of the feet. Try all these postures and
notice how much better your figure looks when you stand
correctly. It will be an object lesson you cannot forget.

Five minutes a day for two weeks ought to teach the
dullest of us to stand well. After that the lesson of grace-
fully shifting the weight when you are tired may be prac-
ticed. Move one foot slightly forward, dividing the weight
equally between the two. Then rest the full weight of the
body on one foot. Then, by a quick, slight shift, change
it to the other. But return quickly to the position of an
equal division of weight. For when the body rests upon
one foot the hip and shoulders of the other side will be
raised.

A good walk is a thing of beauty. A bad walk is a pain
to the beholder. A bird balancing lightly on the end of a
twig is the best model I have ever seen for walking. He
seems weightless. He vibrates with the joy of motion.
The best walkers in the world are Spanish women. They
move with a slight undulation that is exquisite. Their limbs
move as though they have no weight. One of your clever
American v/c *en describing the good walk said: “ Move

as though yoy lived altogether in the upper story.” “ The
upper story ” was that part of the body above the waist.
The remainder she classed as “the lower story.” It was

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

an admirable hint. The upper half of the body should be
evident in the walk. The lower should be merely a means
to the end of walking.

The walk should invite attention only to the fine poise
of the head, the perfect carriage of the chest, the straight-
ness of the back. The limbs should be forgotten. A walk
which attracts attention to them is always an awkward
walk. The upper part of the body should be as free as
though it turned itself upon a pivot. The lower part should
be regarded and utilized merely as a pedestal for holding
the upper. In walking as in standing the weight should
rest upon the ball of the feet. The toes should be turned
slightly outward. The knee joints should move easily and
the movement of the whole of the lower part of the body
should be a stately and apparently unconscious motion.

Some women there are who stand well and walk well,
who sit badly. Indeed, they do not sit. They lounge.
The same law of balance should hold in all. That is, the
weight should be evenly distributed, no portion of the body
having to bear the lion's share of the burden. As a rule,
the comfortable attitude is the correct one in sitting,
though this is not true of the lazy person who sits with
chin lowered upon breast and abdomen thrust forward, as
a caricature of the human form. Sit with the feet resting
upon the floor or upon a footstool. Never let them swing
without support. Sit straight, or rest against a straight-
backed chair, with the lower part of the body pushed close
against the chairback. This is a much better way to rest
than the half-lying, half-sitting posture that is so ungrace-
ful.

In standing, don't throw the hips far back. They should
be straight, in easy line with the body. In walking, do not
swing the arms. In sitting, keep the crown of the head up
and back.

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR FIGURE 195

To test your carriage, pass the hand across the back.
If the ends of the shoulder blades can be felt at a light
touch of the fingers, the carriage is incorrect. The shoul-
ders must be drawn farther back.

CHAPTER XV

SAFE, EASY WAYS OF REDUCING WEIGHT

IN this chapter I shall try to answer that which I call
“ The Great American Question/’ In other countries
where I have lived and visited, women ask, “ What shall I
do to remain young ? ” In America women have by their
intelligence solved that problem. Here the torturing, ever
recurring question is, “ What shall I do to be thin ? ”

Fat is the greatest foe to American beauty. But it is a
self-created foe. American women, learned in all other
matters of personal hygiene, ignore that which is chief, the
hygiene of the table.

I will not say that American women overeat. They eat
the wrong things. In food they deal in extremes, which
are always detrimental, whether to beauty or to morals.
They eat what is very sweet, or very sour. They eat what
is very cold or very hot. They eat foods that are too highly
spiced, or underdone. Extremes, always extremes! And
when they have had too much of this extreme food, and the
tortured stomach revolts, they go to another extreme, and
fast, which is, in my opinion, a most pernicious extreme.

One fact that the stout woman should keep ever before
her mind, as a signal light before a ship battling its way to
port, is that fresh air is a destructive agent to fat. Oxygen
burns carbon. To make this clear, let me ask you if you
have noticed how a dying fire flames up when a draught of
cold air is turned upon it ? That is precisely what happens
when a woman who is too fat goes out for a walk. Carbon,
which is in the great folds of flesh that lie upon her abdo-
men and blanket her hips, is also a component part of the
196

SAFE WAYS OF REDUCING WEIGHT 197

coat. Oxygen acts upon this as a burning match applied
to paper. Therefore, if you are stout, walk, walk, walk.

This will not be easy. It will be hard indeed. For the
woman who is too fat is invariably ease and luxury loving
and a long walk is to her at first a hardship. But she should
be in this as in all things else discreet. Her first walk should
be a short one. If she be one of those women who always
take a street car or a carriage, her first walk should be only
eight or ten blocks long. I am computing by short New
York City blocks. Twenty of these are equal to one mile.
I have seen a woman unaccustomed to walking come puffily
into a room, drop into a chair exhausted and say : “ I am

tired to death. I’ve walked eight blocks/’

But this woman persisted, or, rather, her f riends persisted.
They insisted that after a few hours she take another walk.
To their pleasure she achieved this time ten blocks. In a
walk the evening of the same day she covered twelve, and
came in with a pink glow in her cheeks and a new light in
her eyes. By the end of the week she could walk one mile
each morning without discomfort. The second week she
increased this to one and a half miles. The third week it
became two and when the second month of her exercise
began she walked three miles every morning and came home
with heightened color, a diminished waist and no complaints.

After two months her morning walk of five miles, regard-
less of weather, had become a necessity of her health and
spirits. It was amazing how, as her girth decreased, her
beauty increased. The cheeks that had been heavy and
flabby grew firm and rosy. At first, though there
was a perceptible decrease in her bulk, there was little
difference in her weight. Her waist measure decreased one
and a half inches and her hip measure two inches, yet she
was but five pounds lighter. This apparent riddle is, after
all, easily guessed. Fat is of spongelike texture and light
weight. Much of it may disappear with little corresponding

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

reduction in weight. If a woman sees that her belts have
become too large and that she needs a dressmaker or tailor
to take in her gowns about the hips it does not matter
whether she has lost five or twenty pounds. She has ac-
complished that which she resolved to do. She has grown
beautifully less.

I have known women who never walked more than a few
blocks at a time accomplish a ten-mile walk in a morning.
The wisdom of this I always questioned. Walking is of no
permanent value unless it is regularly done. Better three
miles every morning than ten miles twice a week. Besides
an exceedingly long walk is a severe tax upon muscles un-
used to walking. The muscles must be treated gently as
little children. They should be slowly accustomed to their
task.

Riding is an excellent reducing agent. A morning gallop
in the park or along country roads will soon diminish pon-
derous flesh. Golfing is excellent. Swimming is admirable.
Driving, because the body is entirely passive, is of little use.
Indoor exercise in a gymnasium is better, much better, than
nothing, but outdoor exercise distances it by one hundred
per cent. Although the windows of the room be opened
wide the room does not provide half the oxygen yielded by
the great out-of-doors.

After the burning aid of fresh air, in importance comes
diet. The stout woman should try reducing the quantity of
her food one-third, then one-half. She should eliminate
from it these dishes :

Pork, veal, beans, peas, fat beef or mutton, cauliflower,
potatoes, milk containing cream, puddings, pies, candy,
sugar, white bread, eels, salmon, chocolate, beets, butter, red
wine, ice cream.

She should substitute for them:

Lean meats, eggs, green vegetables (as spinach, string
beans, asparagus, beet tops), oranges, whole wheat, graham

SAFE WAYS OF REDUCING WEIGHT 199

or gluten bread, white bread, toasted thin and crisp, saccha-
rine instead of sugar, fresh or dried fruits.

A famous woman rid herself of ten superfluous pounds
in a month by a modification of the milk diet. She drank
two quarts of skimmed milk a day, and ate but one meal.
She dined at seven with her family. Her breakfast and
luncheon, consisted of two glasses of skimmed milk. She
sipped the milk, giving herself five minutes for each glass,
for she knew milk was rather a food than a beverage, and
that since it passed speedily into the consistency of cheese
in the stomach it must be slowly swallowed. The remainder
of the two quarts of her daily stint she sipped whenever
hunger gnawed and she was tempted to return to her old
diet of what in America you call “ three squares ” a day.

Several of my friends have reduced their weight by the
expedient of taking a long walk, as long as their strength
would permit, before breakfast, but the nearly uncontrol-
lable appetite for the deferred meal created by this exercise
is a discouraging element. Others have been successful in
reducing flesh by foregoing their breakfast altogether. Many
dieticians agree that breakfast is “ the fattening meal.’’
And there is reason to believe the stomach needs breakfast
less than any other meal, since there has been no special
outlay of strength during the night of rest as during the day
of activity.

The fashionable woman used to think that she should rest
immediately after a meal. Now she walks slowly, or at
least stands for twenty minutes after each meal, being con-
vinced that if she sits or lies down after a meal her abdo-
men will become distended, one of the most unsightly forms
of superfluous flesh.

Massage and baths are an undoubted aid in the reduction
of flesh. Massage should not be made to take the place of
exercise. It should supplement it. It is estimated that
thorough massage given by a skillful operator is equivalent

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

to a seven-mile walk. But if this be true so far as the physi-
cal effort is concerned, there is no substitute for the carbon
destroying bath of oxygen.

No room can be so well ventilated as to approach the
purity of the outer air. The woman who is taking massage
to reduce her flesh should not rest afterward. The massage
should be followed by a dip into a bathtub of tepid water,
a scrub and a salt rub, a cool spray and dressing, calisthenics
or a walk.

Do not allow your masseuse to use oil or cold cream.
Talcum powder is best for the woman who wants to be thin.

Reduction medicines I do not advise. Certainly I should
never use one of them internally without consulting a physi-
cian, and having the compound analyzed. There are drastic
remedies that reduce the flesh and demoralize the digestive
apparatus. Far better in this instance the ill than the rem-
edy and its consequent evils.

Some preparations of an absorbent nature I have known
to be used with good results. Most of these contain iodine.
There are several soaps used for the purpose of massage,
all containing iodine. After receiving my physician’s en-
dorsement and having the soap analyzed by a scrupulous
chemist there would seem to be no danger attending their
use.

This formula is safe, and if persistently used, should be
effective as an absorbent remedy. I have known corpulent
beauties who took it internally, but I should never be so
daring :

Tincture of iodine, 30 minims; iodide of potassium, 60
grains; hyposulphite soda, 20 grains; distilled water, 7
ounces; aniseed water, 170 minims.

I have before recommended Turkish baths for flesh re-
duction. That advice I must qualify by explaining how they
should be taken, for there are thin women who take Turkish
baths to fatten them, and with success.

SAFE WAYS OF REDUCING WEIGHT 201

As a reducing agent the Turkish bath should be taken in
a more radical way than for mere cleansing and tonic action.
The bather should remain in the room as long as possible,
that is until she is warned by faintness or a fluttering of the
heart that she has been in the abnormal temperature long
enough. These warnings she must instantly heed. The
length of time is governed by her temperament and health.
It may be twenty minutes, but it should be from half to
three-quarters of an hour. After the scrub and massage
that follow she should go instantly to a couch and be
wrapped in many blankets, so that the flow of perspiration
will continue. Thus while she is resting she should per-
spire for another half hour. This makes a drainage at the
pores for between one and two hours and reduces materially
the weight. But I do not advise Turkish baths oftener than
twice a week at most. Taken oftener I believe them to be
weakening.

A cool or cold plunge every morning is prescribed by
some beauty experts. Personally I am opposed to them.
They are not cleansing. The delicate person cannot with-
stand them. They are a tonic to the robust constitution,
that does not require them.

A gentle laxative is a great aid in reducing. Various salts,
with the consent of your physician and taken in a manner
he advises, would be helpful in diminishing flesh. But I in-
sist that whatever is done in this direction must have a physi-
cian’s approval. I will not unqualifiedly recommend it.
The tendency of salts is to render a person who takes them
anaemic. Should the person who wishes to reduce be al-
ready anaemic the effect of the salts, in thinning the blood,
might be injurious.

To summarize my advice upon the matter of reduc-
ing flesh, let me say that the simplest methods are the
best.

Make oxygen your first aid. Spend at least two hours a

202

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

day out of doors. The more active the outdoor exercise the
better, stopping this side the point of exhaustion.

Reduce the amount of food one-half, and change the diet-
ary from the fat producing foods to bone and muscle makers.

And, in conclusion, a warning. As the muscles, divested
of blanketing flesh, seem to shrink, be sure that the skin fol-
lows them, instead of hanging baggily about them, in ugly
wrinkles or creases.

To contract the skin that surrounds the diminished mus-
cles bathe it frequently in cold water. Bathe with a sponge
dipped in cold water, or wrap the parts about with cold
compresses.

If this method, which is called “ freezing the muscles/' is
not successful this astringent cream applied every morning
and evening should be :

Glycerine, 5 ounces ; mutton tallow, I pound ; tincture of
benzoin, 2 drams; spirits of camphor, 1 dram; powdered
alum, J4 dram ; orange flower water, 2 ounces ; Russian isin-
glass, 1 dram.

One day not long ago a charming young woman came to
see me. Her face indicated deep distress.

“ You are looking charming," I assured her.

“ No, no, madam," she returned. “ I am looking
wretched, dreadful. I am positively ashamed of myself."

“ But why? ” I asked.

“ Don’t you see ? I am over weight. I am twenty-seven.
My height is five feet three inches. I weigh one hundred
and sixty-five pounds."

“ Your curves are a bit ample," I admitted.

“ You know very well, dear madam, that I am like a pillow
of feathers. I lived at a summer hotel where they had
really good food, and behold me. I can hardly believe that
I gained thirty pounds in six weeks. What shall I
do?"

“ First understand that you cannot lose the flesh much

SAFE WAYS OF REDUCING WEIGHT 203

faster than you gained it. You will need at least a month
to lose the thirty pounds/’

“ But I must lose them, madam. Think of appearing in
the opera like this? Think of dancing, not only with a man,
but with thirty extra pounds. What shall I do ? ”

I repeated the litany of reduction : “ Exercise, diet, ab-

stinence, perspiration/’

“ But how ? ”

“ Exercise until you are tired, and then don’t rest but
exercise some more. Rest from one kind of exercise by
trying another.”

“ What exercise? ” persisted my too plump friend.

“ First a series of exercises that force you to breathe
deeply. Begin as soon as you rise in the morning, and, by
the way, rise at least an hour earlier than usual. You fat-
ten as much by too much sleep as from too much food. In
your night robe, or if you prefer it, in a bathing or gym-
nasium suit, go to the window, fling it wide open, and
standing with the arms raised above your head, palms out-
ward, elbows straight, inhale deeply and slowly, counting
eight. Hold the air while you count eight. This gives the
air a chance to sweep through the air cells of the lungs,
bathing them with its freshness. Then expel the air slowly
while you count eight. Repeat this until a slight dizziness
warns you that you have done enough.

“ Then begin the bending exercises. With fingers ex-
tended bend slowly until the finger tips reach the floor.
Then rise slowly, and raise the arms above the head. Do
not raise the shoulders, but slowly bring the tips of the fin-
gers together above the head. Then gradually bend for-
ward until the tips of the fingers reach the floor. Then
back and up again.

“ This exercise is difficult, especially for the stout. But
persist in it and it will reduce the overfatness of the ab-
domen.

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

“ You will be tired by this time, but you must not encour-
age the feeling of drowsiness and torpor and disinclination
for further effort that creeps over you. Banish all thoughts
of going back to bed. Instead begin your rolling.

“ There is no mystery about rolling. It is simply
what the name indicates. Down upon the floor you
go and roll over and over swiftly, not slowly as a
porpoise rolls. The porpoise, you will observe, is not a
slender animal. Roll over as a puppy, tingling with the
joy of life, rolls in the dust when at play. Roll quickly.
Make at least eighty revolutions before stopping. Now you
are very tired. The unaccustomed perspiration appears
upon your face and body in drops. That is good. To re-
duce weight you must perspire. Most fat people have lost
the art of perspiring.

“ But you have not finished your exercise. Don’t think
of breakfast. Don’t think of a nap after your strenuous
half hour. Get a skipping rope and go out on the roof, on
the fire escape, or into a vacant room and jump the rope
twenty-five times. This the first morning. The second
morning make it fifty and continue increasing the number
until a flutter at your heart hints that you have taken enough
of this exercise for the present.

“ Then try some new dance steps. If you have done these
thoroughly you will have spent an hour and a quarter at
reduction. Go then to your bathroom and take a shower,
first warm, then cool, then gradually becoming cold. With
a big Turkish towel rub yourself thoroughly dry. Come
back in a week and tell me how much you weigh.”

“ One hundred sixty-one,” she said. “ But that is not
enough.”

“ It is not,” I answered. “ We must do better. This
week, after you have finished your exercises indoors, you
must dress at once and go for a long walk or ride.”

“ But breakfast? ” she asked faintly.

SAFE WAYS OF REDUCING WEIGHT 205

“ It would be better if you ate no breakfast,” I answered
sternly. “ Or, if you take any, let it be a glassful or, if
your stomach is clamorous, two glassfuls of buttermilk.
Drink them slowly, taking at least five minutes for each
glass.

“ When you return from the walk or ride take another
shower.”

“ And rest ? ”

“ There is no rest for the person who is reducing. It is
an occupation in itself. After your luncheon, which should
be of lean meat or fish, toast and coffee without cream or
sugar and stewed or fresh fruit, go out again. Go shopping
or calling. If calling, decline tea and sweetmeats that may
be offered you. If shopping or calling don’t drive to your
destination. Walk. For dinner you should have the same
as at luncheon, with the addition, if you wish, of a small
glass of white wine. White wine, being sour, is one of the
agents for reducing flesh that all French dietitians prescribe.
After dinner more exercise in the open. Driving is better
than staying indoors, but walking is better. I have before
pointed out that in walking you take in four times as much
fresh air in a given time as you do in driving. And fresh
air in the body is like a draught of air in a furnace, fanning
a blaze that consumes all refuse and slag. Go back now,” I
said, “ and call again next week.”

Next week her step was lighter. Her eyes were brighter.
She said: “ You are a hard taskmistress, but I have done

as you advised. My weight is now 154 pounds.”

“ You have lost a pound a day,” I said. “ That is enough.
Some authorities would say it is too much. Now we will
vary the treatment a little. I have told you about exercise
and diet. Now as to abstinence.”

“ It is dreadfully hard to do without sweets,” she sighed.
“ Did you do without them ? ”

“ Not wholly,” she admitted.

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

“If the hunger for sweets seizes you let fruit tablets dis-
solve in your mouth and swallow them slowly. This will
satisfy for a time the craving for sweets that is as torment-
ing in its way as the craving for drink, and as hard to cure.
The fruit tablets are a make-believe candy, and yet are so
largely fruit and water that the sugar in them is hardly
a calculable quantity.”

“ But I am hungry nearly all the time ; hungry for other
than sweets. Hungry for substantials.”

“If you insist upon eating as much as you wish I can
do nothing for you. You must leave the table with your
appetite unappeased.

“ Drink a great deal of water. That refreshes the body,
but helps to destroy the appetite for food. Normally, you
should drink ten glasses a day. Increase the amount to
twelve or fourteen. With your buttermilk for breakfast,
your lean meat, dry toast and coffee at luncheon and the
same with white wine at night, your stomach will be satis-
fied.

“ But do your water drinking discreetly. Begin in the
morning as soon as you rise by sipping two glassfuls.
Finish the day by the same quantity. The other should be
drunk between meals or, at most, one glass should be drunk
a day.

“ Keep before your mind the word * Abstain/ Remem-
ber that you must abstain from sweets, from pastries, from
milk, from cauliflower, potatoes, lima beans, corn, all the
vegetables and cereals that fatten.”

At the end of the third week she came back perceptibly
lessened. “ Eight pounds less this week,” she said trium-
phantly. “ My weight is now one hundred and forty-six.
Only eleven pounds of the thirty remain.”

“ Do you perspire well ? ”

“ Better than I did. But not freely.”

“ Then the pores must be educated. Some pores must go

SAFE WAYS OF REDUCING WEIGHT 207

to school to learn their function. When all else fails a
course of Turkish or Russian baths will do this. Take them
at home in a cabinet, or at public baths, as you prefer. I
prefer the Russian baths because they are moist and they
do not force the lungs to breathe hot air. The cabinet baths
permit an opening for the head so that while the body is
perspiring the lungs may be inhaling cool, pure air.

“ Take one of these baths every morning. Keeping the
feet in hot water facilitates the perspiration. At the end of
a week you will find that the pores will have learned their
office and perspiring will have become easy. While you are
taking the course of baths you may relax somewhat from
the exercise. Or you may take instead deep or kneading
massage, the sort in which your masseuse’s knuckles seem
to reach the bones.”

At the end of the week my patient wrote me : * I cannot

call to-day, but rejoice with me. I have lost eight pounds
this week. Only three more to spare. I am keeping ta*ilors
and dressmakers busy taking in my frocks.”

Three days later she appeared, looking radiant. It was
as though a half dozen blankets that hid her beauty had been
removed. Her charms had been hidden by too much flesh,
as the flame of a lamp is obscured by a soiled chimney.

“ One thing I forget,” I said, anxiously scrutinizing her
face for sagging skin. “ But you do not need the warning.”

“No, I had a facial massage every day to keep the skin
of my face firm.”

“ And there is no sign of a pendulous chin,” I said, ad-
miringly.

“ I kept the chin firm by freezing the muscles into hard-
ness with cold water compresses and applications of ice.”

Here is how another young friend of mine lost nineteen
pounds in five weeks without injury to her health.

Before she fairly realized that she was putting on flesh
she found herself with all the symptoms of overweight.

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

Her face was full and puffy. Her cheek muscles sagged,
giving her face the jowl-like look that suggests the lower
animals, transforming beauty’s face into a beastlike sem-
blance, and that beast not the handsomest, nor most poetic,
of the order. As she surveyed her figure in the mirror,
particularly in the back, it looked broad and coarse. More-
over, she was conscious of her weight. Her movements had
become clumsy. When we are at normal weight, that is,
when we are only so heavy as nature intended, and nature
abhors overfleshed women, we are not oppressed by our
bodies. We feel so light and our minds are so capable of
dominating our bodies that we scarcely realize that we have
any weight. That birdlike lightness of body is a sure sign
that we are at our best.

My friend, having a long social season before her, when
she wished to look her best, resolved to train down. But
how ? She adopted none of the cure-alls prescribed by stout
women we meet at Turkish baths. She did what is the
wisest course when we are able to adopt it, went straight
to her physician and asked his advice.

This was wise because her physician knew her constitu-
tion as she knew her alphabet. He knew which way lay
peril. She must not take the beef and hot water cure, be-
cause she was predisposed to rheumatism, and authorities
claimed, and this physician believed, that in beef there is
at least seventeen per cent, of uric acid. The body is able
to eliminate only a limited amount of the acid and the intro-
duction into it of such excess over that amount would in-
volve some remaining in the system. This should be
avoided in cases of what the physicians call “ uric acid dia-
thesis.”

Also his patient was nervous, so he must not permit her
that starvation system of diet which reduced her nervous
force. Not being an especially vigorous woman, he was
unwilling to run any risk of impairing her vitality.

SAFE WAYS OF REDUCING WEIGHT 209

Under his guidance, then, she began this regimen :

For breakfast, two slices of thin, dry toast. If her break-
fast satisfied her cravings he insisted that the bread be dry.
If not, she spread it very thinly with butter. With this she
ate one medium-boiled or poached egg and drank one cup
of coffee.

Being of those who say, and prove, if you watch them at
the first meal of the day, “ My breakfast is my best meal,”
her physician knew that this light breakfast would at first
be a hardship. He therefore urged her to eat very slowly,
masticating her food until it turned into a thin liquid in her
mouth. “If you do this,” he said, “ one-half the food you
formerly ate will just as fully satisfy your hunger.” “ And
that, which I didn’t at all believe at first I found to be quite
true,” she said.

The only luncheon permitted her was a slight one of fruit.
“ Try to get on with one apple or orange,” he said. “ If
you are suffering from hunger eat two. But masticate,
masticate, masticate.”

At night she was allowed to eat anything she chose, ex-
cept the three fattening “ ps ” — potatoes, pudding or pie.
But again she was charged to take twice as much time as
usual for the meal. And at neither of her meals should
she drink water. At breakfast and dinner one cup of black
coffee was permitted.

For all the days that followed, for five weeks, she had
the same breakfast and luncheon, but every other night she
had no dinner save a large bowl of bread and milk. The
milk contained no cream, but was skimmed.

Meanwhile she, who had always disliked exercise, dis-
carded her carriage and took two walks a day, one in the
morning and one in the afternoon. Her physician named
no ground to be covered in these walks.

“Walk as long as you enjoy it, but not until you are
tired,” he warned her. Her first unaccustomed walks were

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

only three or four short city squares, but after two weeks,
when nature had become accustomed to the new regimen,
she was able to walk four miles a day, two before and two
after noon.

If, as sometimes happened, she returned from her walk
faint, she was allowed to drink a cup of hot but very weak
tea, and if nature seemed to demand more sustenance, she
drank two cups. But from these cream and sugar were
sternly prohibited.

The results I have told you. And my friend never looked
so lovely and she assures me she has never felt so well.
There was no expensive journey nor stay at the baths ; no
daily massage. The loss of those nineteen pounds cost her
only self-denial, the one fee for her physician and the tailor’s
charges for taking in all her gowns four inches about the
hips and two at the waist.

While ways to grow thin do not especially interest me, I
cannot help hearing continually of them. Wherever I go
the conversation of the women I meet tends to fat. All are
interested because those who are fat wish to be thin, and
those who are thin fear they may become fat. All woman-
kind, it would seem, has organized into an army of fat
fighters.

To the baths go women who weigh two hundred pounds,
and when they return from Carlsbad, from Marienbad and
elsewhere I pass them in the Bois without saluting them,
because in those six weeks they have lost fifty pounds and
are thin beyond recognition. It is marvelous. One of the
great physicians who crossed the Atlantic recently to treat
a New York society leader for obesity, received $2,000 for
his services for two weeks. They will do much and pay
greatly to reduce their flesh, these rich, but what of us who
are not wealthy?

We can choose and follow some of their methods once
we have learned them. This is one method which a friend

SAFE WAYS OF REDUCING WEIGHT 21 1

of mine uses to keep her weight thirty-five pounds below
what it formerly was. It is simple, being baths three times
a week in hot salt water. Into an ordinary bath tub she
empties two pounds of table salt. She pours water into the
tub until it is two-thirds full, and remains in the tub for
twenty minutes. After this she rubs her body briskly down
with alcohol and retires.

Like most methods of quick reduction this may be criti-
cised as temporarily weakening. Therefore while I am ac-
quainting you with this treatment for obesity I do not
recommend it to one who must keep her strength at its full-
est. A vacation or a time when your tasks, whether they
be business or professional or social, are light, would be the
best time for this measure for reduction of weight.

From the harem of Constantinople, through an escaped
inmate, comes the news that when a member of it becomes so
fat that she is a formless sea of flesh, the overlord orders
that she have bone-deep massage daily with this lotion :

Iodide of potassium, 2 ounces ; camphor water, 2 ounces ;
alcohol, 2 ounces.

If while this deep massage and the hardship for a woman
of the harem of eating no more of the delicious Turkish
paste are continuing her face grows haggard and lines ap-
pear in it, it is bathed six times a day with :

Witch hazel, 1 ounce ; rosewater, 1 ounce.

Specialists are always prepared to hear the complaint:
“ I don’t eat much.” All their patients tell them this and
all of them believe it to be true, but in nearly every case it
isn’t. A few admit that they are enormous feeders, but say
“ It is impossible for me to control my appetite.” A beauty
specialist I know laughs at this.

“ When you are hungry between the two meals I will per-
mit you to drink water,” he orders. “ Hot water or cold
as you like, but drink it very slowly, and never take a glass
of water unless there is the juice of a lemon in it. If you

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keep the stomach filled with water you will be less hungry.
If you feel a ‘ gnawing ’ drink more water.”

This is the dietary permitted by an autocrat at one of
the great European baths :

No liquor; all fish, except trout and salmon; chicken;
beef (in very small and rare portions, preferably raw) ;
eggs; nuts; all acid fruits such as cranberries, cherries,
peaches and blackberries ; rhubarb ; beans ; carrots ; cabbage ;
cauliflower ; asparagus ; squash ; tomatoes ; onions ; lettuce ;
celery ; hominy ; brown or rye bread ; Dutch cheese.

These and nothing more composed the food. No servant
could be bribed for a potato, and all turned round eyes of
innocent wonder upon you if you asked for a sweet cake.

Because the change to this diet was so radical the doctor
did not insist upon violent exercise, but he kept his reducing
patients out of doors and encouraged them, as did the Paris
physician, to keep moving.

While you are reducing depend upon a tape measure
rather than the scales to determine your loss of weight.
Measure your hips and waist and upper arm. Fat is bulk
making, but it takes a large amount of it to weigh a pound.
A woman, my neighbor at the baths I visited, had lost three
inches about the hips and two about the waist, yet had lost
only three-quarters of a pound in weight.

If I were ever encumbered by too much flesh I should
first give the rice treatment a thorough trial. It is simple
and cheap and has the merit of not reducing too rapidly, so
that the facial muscles have time to adjust themselves to
the new conditions and the skin of the face to also adjust
itself, preventing the haggardness and aged look that follow
too rapid reduction.

The rice cure can be explained in a paragraph, a short
one, even in a line. It consists in an exclusive diet of rice
and milk, or rice with a little butter and salt to make it
palatable. It is a leisurely, and for that reason healthful,

SAFE WAYS OF REDUCING WEIGHT 213

treatment. A young woman of my acquaintance rid herself
of two pounds a week by this diet until she had diminished
her weight by the desired ten pounds. I have no doubt, had
she continued, she could have reduced indefinitely by that
scale. She ate three large bowls of rice a day. Each bowl
constituted one of her three daily meals. The rice was
covered with skim milk. Had she chosen, she could have
eaten it with a little butter and salt.

A fad in Ostend and at some of the German cures is to
wrap the limbs and other fatty portions in white muslin or
linen cloths that have been boiled in vinegar. They are
wrapped around the fleshy portions of the body as hot as
the cloths can be endured. When they cool they are re-
placed by others or they are dipped once more into the
vinegar. This treatment is continued for at least twenty
minutes and some of the faddists employ it three times a
day. It has a certain value, for there is no question about
the absorptive power of the skin. But its foes are sure that
it makes the skin yellow.

In Germany is being attempted a method that would make
for health and healthy thinness in America. German phy-
sicians advise the establishment in each town of fruit depots.
If these depots or rooms were generally established and a
man or woman could drop in at one of them for luncheon
as easily as he or she now calls at a restaurant where fat-
tening potatoes, puddings, pastry and liquors are served
there would be a benefit to the general health.

Summer is the best season for reduction, for three rea-
sons. First, one of the greatest agents for destroying
excess flesh is pure air, and one may get all she wishes of
it at this season. If circumstances permit you to leave
the cities, the country air will aid in diminishing your
girth.

A second reason why summer is the best season for re-
duction of weight is that we need and crave less food in this

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season, and, besides, the food is of a lighter nature and
contains more acid than in winter.

One fashionable Parisienne betook herself to her chateau
last month for her annual rebuilding and for the first three
weeks lived exclusively on grapes and slept in an open air
chamber on the roof of her country home. She grew clear
of skin and lissome as a girl.

A third reason for utilizing summer in your reduction
treatment is that it is the season which favors perspiration.
And fat flows from our body on the streams of perspiration.

The latest word in the matter of obesity cures is that fat
being composed chiefly of water must be squeezed as a
sponge is to rid it of the liquid with which it is saturated.

Whenever there is need a supply soon follows. A school
of masseuses have adopted this theory of fat and have gone
to work heroically to prove their theory. One of these,
who has gone to your country from Sweden, gives the new
massage for three hours at one treatment. She beats and
pounds and squeezes the flesh until it is soft as putty. The
results are amazing. I know an actress who in order to
play a vampire woman must needs reduce thirty pounds.
This she did last summer, becoming slender and straight as
a young pine tree, and with no lessening of her vitality or
beauty.

In London they are “ jumping the fat down.” Once a
day, or oftener, the overweight clan jump up and down fifty
times.

In Paris the so-called electric blanket has many advocates
and friends. The person who desires to reduce her flesh
wraps this blanket about her, attaches to its fastenings the
electrical power from the lights in her room, and presently
she is dripping with perspiration. Completely relaxed as in
a Turkish bath, she lies in her own room, on her own bed,
and loses undesired ounces and pounds. After twenty min-
utes or more she springs from her blanket, hurries to her

SAFE WAYS OF REDUCING WEIGHT 215

bathroom and turns on the cold spray or shower, or takes
a plunge in a tub of cold water. This, done twice a day,
has been the secret of the vanishing flesh of many beauties
at Ostend, who had the gratification of remaining in fash-
ionable centers and enjoying life, instead of immuring them-
selves at stupid baths.

These are effective new methods for general reduction.
Often, however, there is need only of reducing certain por-
tions of the body that are too redundant. Many women are
annoyed, especially when they wear evening dress, by an
unbecoming roll of fat lying between the shoulders. This
has been removed by the simple means of patting it briskly
with first one hand, then another, afterwards by stroking it,
first with one hand, then the other, the strokes being firm
and downward ones. It is better, still, to dip the palms in
cold water before beginning this manipulation. “ Ironing ”
the flesh roll with a lump of ice is another method success-
ful in several instances of which I have personal knowledge.

If the chin has begun to multiply the ice ironing is useful,
especially if the ironing be followed at night by tying up
the chin by a muslin or rubber bandage that is fastened
about the head.

Sometimes the excess of fat is in the face, giving the
countenance a gross look, robbing it of much of its apparent
intelligence, and muffling fine features in a blanket of super-
fluous flesh. Such a face has rid itself of this incubus,
and emerged, youthful, rosy and well proportioned, because,
as its owner whispered to me, she never retires without first
passing a small lump of ice over her face, always with up-
ward strokes. If the touch of the ice is unpleasant, or if
there is in your composition a tendency to neuralgia, wrap
the ice in a thin layer of absorbent cotton, or in a piece of
gauze or cheesecloth.

Individual treatment for overweight can be treated ac-
cording to individual needs. Study your needs and adapt

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your knowledge to them. Keep in mind these four princi-
ples of flesh reduction. All methods depend upon increased
perspiration, lessened quantity or different quality of food,
more vigorous exercise or that which reacts upon certain
portions of the body, or greater freedom from clogging ma-
terials which are wastes of the body. Those bath powders
which are advertised as reducing agents usually contain one
of the salts which induce the latter results.

CHAPTER XVI

HOW TO GAIN FLESH

EVERY woman, while not desiring to be fat, wants to
possess a figure that is pleasantly rounded. Curves,
for women at least, are the lines of beauty. A man who is
all straight lines may be handsome, but no woman who
is all angles may be beautiful.

The young women, and the older women, too, who ask
me, “ What shall I do to become pleasingly plump ? ” are
wise. For womanly lines, like a womanly voice, are wholly
desirable.

How shall the thin woman become plump ? It is a harder
problem than that which I tried to solve last week. For a
woman who is fat may become comparatively thin by self-
denial, but the thin woman who would become plump must
overcome many things, heredity, temperament, some of the
most salient traits of her character. The thin woman must
make herself over inside, so to speak, before she can make
herself over outside.

To be pleasingly plump means that every angle is covered
to an attractive roundness without any of the grossness of
the figure that is too fat. As an example of such a figure,
let me call your attention to Mary Garden. No one would
dare say she is fat. She is not. She never will be, for she
has the nervous temperament. But in all her figure there
is no angle. Yet its lines are long, the curves graceful, and
the ensemble is most individual.

For the thin woman who would become plump there must
be a radical change in her manner of living. First she
217

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

must learn a lesson from her fat sister. It is not to worry.
Almost always the fat woman is care free. She is amiable.
She never worries and never nags. Diane de Poiters, the
great French beauty, had to struggle against the encroach-
ment of a sea of fat. The reason may be found in her
answer to the question : “ Why are you so beautiful ? ”

Her reply was : “ I am beautiful because I never worry.”

The thin woman must stop worrying.

The thin woman is a spendthrift of vitality. She is never
still when there is a chance for activity. It was of such a
woman that the sardonic bachelor says : “ She cuts up

quilt pieces just for the fun of sewing them together again.”
By which the bachelor meant to convey that she did needless
work. The thin woman must learn to rest.

The woman who is too slender to please herself or others
must look to her diet. Those foods which her fat sister
must eschew she must habitually eat.

She, too, must have her daily baths and her massage, but
they must be radically different from those taken by the
woman who would diminish her flesh.

Since her greatest hope of increased flesh lies in food I
will first discuss that. Here is a list of those edibles which
contain the starch or sugar, or both, that are needful for
the taking on of flesh :

Thick soups, as bisque, cream of celery, cream of corn,
puree of peas and puree of beans ; fat beef, fat mutton, hot
corn bread, hot biscuits, wheat, corn and buckwheat cakes,
plenty of butter, honey ; salad dressings in which there is
more oil than vinegar; chocolate, pastries, puddings, bon-
bons, bananas, peaches, prunes, beans, peas, cauliflower,
asparagus, potatoes, rice, gelatines.

She should drink cocoa or chocolate made with milk;
red wines if wines be drunk at all; tea or coffee, if drunk
at all, must be taken with cream and sugar. She should
drink more hot water than cold.

HOW TO GAIN FLESH

219

Cold baths I do not recommend for any woman. Her
organism is too delicate, I think, to successfully resist the
shock of a cold plunge or shower, but if any woman can
withstand it it is the stout woman. It has been claimed
to be a considerable aid in reduction of flesh. By that
token, if by no other, the thin woman should avoid them.
Her baths must be at least tepid. ^ should advise them as
warm as she can comfortably take them. For while hot
baths are enervating a moderately warm bath is soothing to
tired nerves, and so tends to those easeful habits which the
thin woman needs to acquire. The fat woman should rise
immediately from her bath, dress and go about her affairs.
But it is admissible, even desirable, for the thin woman to
lie down for a rest of twenty minutes or longer after her
bath. The repose that follows a warm bath is one of the
best aids to gaining flesh.

A Turkish bath once a week may be taken, but it should
be taken prudently or it will lessen the flesh. The thin
woman should not remain in the hot room for more than
ten minutes. After the scrub which follows she should
not lie in blankets, as I have advised fat women to do, to
promote further perspiration. Instead she should go to a
slightly cooler room and there take massage while her pores
are gaping as open hungry mouths to receive it. Massage
with olive oil is a fattener. For each bath I recommend:

Olive oil, 1 gill ; oil of bergamot, teaspoonful.

After massage with the oil she should rest for a half
hour before dressing. To remove the odor and other un-
pleasant souvenirs of the oil rub she should powder her
body freely with talcum before dressing.

For those to whom olive oil is distasteful there is this
massage for the meager body, which is much used in France
and Germany: Tannin, y2 gram; lanolin, 30 grams; oil

of sweet almonds, 10 grams.

This, which I have before recommended for building the

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

adipose tissues of the neck, is excellent for the body, especi-
ally for the sunken regions about the collarbones, for the
thin layer of flesh over the ribs and for enlarging the hips :

Cocoa butter, ioo grams ; alcohol, 95 per cent, 20 grams ;
essence of rosemary, 12 drops; essence of bergamot, 12
drops.

Some skins are irritated by cocoa butter. For these pure,
fresh lard could be substituted. A recipe somewhat dif-
ficult to fill this side of Paris, but which has been invalu-
able to thin women who desired to be plump, is this for
massage cream :

Salep of Persia, 15 grams; powdered cocoa, 60 grams;
glan doux d’Asie, 60 grams; potato starch, 45 grams; rice
starch, 60 grams ; thin gelatine solution, 250 grams ; vanilla,
5 centigrams.

Another simple, pleasant and efficacious massage cream
is made from:

Olive oil, 2 ounces; pure starch, 1 ounce; lanolin, 1
ounce.

While I am aware that in America there is a prejudice
against perfumes, I cannot share in it. Since the days of
the early Romans well chosen perfumes have added ele-
gance to a toilet. It is only their abuse which is to be
deplored. A dainty woman need not be told that she must
use the perfume sparingly, that there should be a hint, not a
bald statement, of them about her. But there is no question
that certain perfumes have also a tonic medicinal effect.
Therefore for the thin woman whose nerves require sooth-
ing I recommend this toilet water, used by English and
French women when tired. A half dozen drops in a bowl
of water is deliciously soothing, and leaves a pleasantly per-
vasive yet elusive perfume in the room :

Jasmine water, 3 ounces ; vanilla water, iy2 ounces ;
acacia water, 1 y2 ounces; tuberose water, y2 ounce; essence
of ambergris, 5 drops ; tincture of benzoin, y2 dram.

HOW TO GAIN FLESH

22 1

The thin woman may use all of these things and yet note
but little improvement. For she has but little appetite as
a rule, and it is hard to fatten one who will not eat. She
should go to a physician, tell him of her loss of appetite,
and ask for a prescription for a tonic which shall be, as are
most tonics, an appetizer. In lieu of that I borrow from a
famous French physician, who contributed much to the
beauty of women, this formula for an appetizer :

Tincture of nux vomica, 3 grams; tincture of rhubarb,
60 grams ; tincture of star anise, 3 grams.

The woman who would be plump must add to her daily
allowance of sleep. If she sleeps eight hours and is still
thin she should sleep nine hours, or even ten. And she
should take a nap of a half hour to an hour after her midday
meal. She should exercise before instead of after meals.

Briefly this is the regimen I should advise for thin
women :

Begin the day with a light breakfast in bed. The break-
fast may be a pot of cocoa or chocolate made with milk, and
sweetened with three lumps of sugar in each cup, three
slices buttered toast, two medium boiled eggs.

Rest for at least a half hour ; better an hour. The time
can be utilized in looking after your correspondence on one
of the convenient writing pads, in bed, in reading the morn-
ing papers or in making your plans for the day.

Then a tepid bath, as I have directed, followed by a
slightly cooler shower to prevent your catching cold.

Then a short walk or a drive.

Luncheon of roast beef or mutton with gravy, any green
salad with mayonnaise dressing, a cup of cocoa or glass of
milk, bananas or peaches or pastry.

Between luncheon and dinner sip two or three glasses of
milk, remembering that milk is food rather than drink, and
giving five minutes to each glass. Follow the luncheon by
a nap. If you can’t sleep at least rest.

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

For dinner eat any food that appeals to you that is of
starchy or sugary or fatty nature. Avoid pickles, oranges
and all acids.

In this diet use saving common sense. Do not eat of
rich foods so freely that your digestion will be impaired
and your complexion become mottled. Drive away insom-
nia by drinking a glass of warmed milk, a cup of cocoa or
chocolate and eating a biscuit or two before retiring.

For the thin woman the rule against eating between
meals applied to the fat one does not hold. She may eat
whenever hunger moves her, for hers is a normal hunger,
indicating need of more nutriment.

I think it is not well to try to guide the natural growth
of a young girl toward slenderness or plumpness. Nature
should have its chance to indicate rather strongly which
way it intends her to travel, whether the road of thinness
or fat. When this has become apparent, which is not
until after sixteen or eighteen, it is quite time to supplement
nature.

But for those readers whose growth will not be inter-
rupted by any radical changes in manner of living, I would
advise special attention to diet. Give a great deal of in-
telligent attention to nourishing the body. Keep in mind
always the class of foods that form flesh.

Of the cereals corn, wheat and oats belong in this class.
The bread made from them has the same properties, especi-
ally if they are used in their natural, unadulterated state.
Corn bread, made from rough yellow meal and spread
plentifully with butter, is one of the best means of adding
to the weight of the body. Potatoes, if used in connection
with eggs, cheese and milk are important aids in that direc-
tion.

A French physician of unusual skill prepares to fatten
his thin patients by requiring them first to fast for a short
time. Sometimes he asks that this continue for three days,

HOW TO GAIN FLESH

223

though in my opinion forty-eight hours are quite enough.
This is to clear the body of all remnants of former manner
of diet. This is followed in his system by an exclusive
milk diet of three more days, he permitting the patient to
drink as much as she likes, but insisting on at least two
quarts a day, drunk very slowly, ten minutes for the con-
sumption of each glass, almost literally eating, rather than
drinking it.

Should the appetite rebel at the milk it may be varied by
an occasional glass of orange juice or of lemon juice and
water, half and half.

The third step in this rejuvenating of the body before
beginning to take the flesh forming foods, is to eat nuts and
fruit freely for a day or two or longer, unless your appetite
becomes too rebellious.

When you have begun with the flesh forming foods,
which I have given and which always include meats con-
taining considerable fat, be careful to chew them so thor-
oughly that all turn to liquid form in your mouth before
swallowing.

I knew a woman once, extremely thin, who always ate a
half dozen dates for dessert, after a full meal. To this she
ascribed her rapid gain in welcome flesh.

Exercise gently while building flesh, but do not exercise
quickly nor long at a time.

Drink water freely, and during meals one glass slowly
drunk of cold water will not interfere with, but rather aid,
in the digestion. One of the first measures taken by those
who wish to reduce their flesh is the opposite — to avoid
drinking water at meals.

Rest often. Sleep as much as you can, taking a nap at
midday if possible. Thin persons are nearly all worriers.
Fat persons, as a rule, do not worry.

Massaging the body with olive oil or vaseline aids in
flesh formation. Drinking olive oil has the same result.

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

My prescription for the increase of flesh is twofold. I
counsel peace of mind and eating flesh-making foods.

Generally speaking, thin persons are of nervous tempera-
ment. They have a positive genius for worry. Stop
worrying and control your nerves. This can be done
through the practice of common sense and the exercise of
your will. Train yourself along this line and it will amaze
you to see what progress you have made in a few months.
It is possible not to let things and persons get on your
nerves. Try it, and keep on trying, until the avoidance
becomes a habit.

You will be less nervous if you take more rest. Sleep;
or if you can’t sleep, remain in bed an extra hour or two,
if possible, every night. And if your circumstances permit,
take a nap or a half-hour or more of relaxation at noon.
Rest after meals.

Aside from this nerve control and banishment of worry,
the greatest aid in flesh-making is in the greater quantity
and different quality of food.

Science has lately contributed a valuable item to the flesh-
making foods. The pine nut, known as pignolia, is one of
the foods richest in fatty matter and in fat-making ingredi-
ents. Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, the great food expert and
advocate of the pure food law, calls attention to the fact
that these small, sleek, white nuts are composed of nearly
60 per cent, of fat, and that the sugar and starch, also fat-
making ingredients, in them amount to 17 per cent, of their
composition. They have heat-making properties equaling
those of butter, containing nearly four times as much nour-
ishment as lean beef. This discovery I repeat, hoping that
those persons to whom the idea of eating pork or fatty beef
will be obnoxious will find an excellent substitute in this.

Butter is a fattening agent. Spread bread thickly with
this and eat foods cooked in it, if you would grow flesh.
But because butter and cod liver oil are believed to inter-

HOW TO GAIN FLESH 225

fere in some cases with digestion, I would advise the free
use of cream and milk instead.

As a rule the person who is too thin is anaemic, and those
foods which rebuild the system will tend to round the body.
For such persons thick soups are desirable. Thick broths
are strengthening and rebuilding. Vermicelli and macaroni,
added to thick soups, tends to fatten. In Germany I came
on an anaemic young woman taking the cure at one of the
baths.

“ What is that you are eating ? ” I inquired, looking dubi-
ously at a thick sandwich she ate with evident relish.

“ It is a chopped raw beef sandwich mixed with choco-
late,” she said. “ It is delicious. May I order you one ? ”

I declined, for it happens that I dislike both raw meats
and chocolates. But I asked her about her regimen, and
found that part of her prescribed daily diet was sandwiches
made of chopped or scraped meat prepared like the meat
for a Hamburger steak, and mixed with beef or mutton
broth, butter or cod liver oil, or, as a special reward of
merit she was granted the variety she most liked, raw beef
with chocolate.

Raw oysters were also permitted, but there was almost
no lemon juice sprinkled upon them and vinegar was not
allowed upon the table. Eggs she was allowed without
limit, and she was urged to take them beaten up in milk
from which the cream had not been removed. All cereals
were admissable, especially barley, hominy, tapioca and
cracked wheat.

It is commonly supposed that thin people are thin for
natural constitutional reasons, and that it is extremely dif-
ficult, if not altogether impossible, to increase weight. It is
true that many people hold a certain weight year after year,
neither gaining nor losing more than a pound or two. It is
also true that many efforts to increase weight accomplish
nothing. But thin people need not be discouraged or settle

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

themselves into the belief that it is impossible to gain weight.

An eminent physician tells me he has known people of
middle age who have never varied more than a few pounds
in weight for twenty years, to add thirty-five pounds in one
summer. But this was accomplished, not by any haphazard
luck, but by a most careful, persistent and intelligent system
of nourishment.

Most people are accustomed to eat about the same aver-
age amount of food every day, and they are guided in the
amount they eat by their appetite. The result is that, with
about the same daily habits of life and about the same daily
appetite, and with about the same consumption of nourish-
ment day after day, the bodily weight continues at a fixed
amount. If one is working extra hard, the appetite may
be a little stronger, and the additional weight which might
be gained is consumed by the extra labor which is being per-
formed. During a summer vacation it often happens that
there is a gain of weight of five or eight or perhaps ten
pounds, but this is lost again as soon as the old habits of
life are resumed after the vacation is over.

In formulating a system for increasing weight it is neces-
sary to consider all of the many factors which may be made
to contribute to the gain. Of course it must be understood
at the very outstart that it is necessary to increase the
amount of food we are eating if we are to increase weight.
It is not difficult to understand that a person’s weight, which
is maintained at an even level year after year on a given
quantity of food, is not likely to increase unless the quantity
of food or the quality of the food is increased. But it does
not necessarily follow that weight will increase simply by
increasing the amount of food consumed. Many other
factors enter into the problem.

It is probably almost universally true that we eat many
things every day which are of little or no value. Our

HOW TO GAIN FLESH 227

stomachs are often filled with more or less worthless food
instead of things of great food value.

The most important single factor in gaining weight is the
kind of nourishment that is taken.

Bread, meat, cereals, thin soups, desserts, crackers, pastry
and most vegetables are of very little value in increasing
weight.

Thick pea or bean soup, baked beans, Boston brown bread,
rice, Welsh rarebit, cheese, raw eggs, chocolate, milk and
cream are the great producers of weight.

It is, of course, generally well known that rapid and con-
siderable gains in weight may be made by drinking large
quantities of milk. The flesh gained by abnormal consump-
tion of milk is likely to disappear as rapidly as it was ac-
quired ; and it is the opinion of many of the best physicians
that too much milk puts a dangerous strain upon the kid-
neys.

Flesh gained through a milk diet is of doubtful value, but
flesh gained by eating the highly nourishing foods I have
recommended is of permanent value.

If a person is eating all his appetite demands, it may be
asked how any one is to eat any more. One way of creating
a larger appetite is to move your meals further apart.

If, for any reason, you are not able to get dinner until an
hour or more after your usual dinner time, you feel a con-
siderably keener appetite and eat considerably more. If
you will apply this to all the hours for your meals you will
find that you are eating a considerably larger bulk of food
each day. Get up earlier in the morning and have a longer
interval between your breakfast and midday meal, and you
will eat probably ten or fifteen per cent, more at noon. Put
off your evening meal an hour later, if possible, and you will
find that you eat a considerably heavier evening meal than
you had been eating.

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

The older you grow the slower are your digestive proc-
esses. It takes fully an hour longer for a person of forty-
five to digest the same meal eaten by a person of twenty.

Everybody knows how pate de foie gras, which is the fat
and diseased liver of a goose, is produced. In Strasburg,
where most of the pate de foie gras comes from, the un-
fortunate goose is taken into a dark cellar and one foot is
nailed to the floor. The goose is then fed all he will eat,
and when he has finished his meal more food is poked down
his throat with a stick. The goose is, in this way, stuffed
with food day after day, and is not allowed to have fresh air
or exercise. The result is that his liver becomes degenerate,
fat and enlarged; and this is the way pate de foie gras is
produced.

The same sort of thing works in the same way with the
human anatomy, and if you are to stuff yourself with extra
food and acquire permanent and valuable flesh, you must
thoroughly oxygenate your blood by fresh air and a reason-
able amount of moderate exercise. Sleep with your win-
dow open at night and take a walk morning and evening.
Do not run, hurry or take violent exercise of any kind.

The chief factor in gaining weight is to come to your
meals with more appetite than ever before and eat more
than ever before. Eat things of the highest nutritive value.
If you are beginning your dinner with thick, rich pea soup,
try to eat two or even three helpings of it. Whatever else
you eat help yourself to double the usual amount and try to
eat it all. And when you are all through and think you can-
not eat any more, then eat a liberal helping of cheese, and
after that drink a glass or two of milk.

If such a meal taxes your digestion you may need help.
The chief digestive agent of the stomach is hydrochloric
acid, and you may add power to your digestive machinery
by taking a little. You may at the same time stimulate the
other gastric secretions with a little nux vomica. Here is a

HOW TO GAIN FLESH 229

prescription which will probably help you to take care of
your extra quantity of food:

Diluted hydrochloric acid, 3 drams ; tincture nux
vomica, 2 drams; peppermint water and distilled water,
each 2 ounces.

Take teaspoonful in wineglassful of water 3 times a day
after meals.

Now, this is not all. You may still take a little more
nourishment before you go to bed. Try drinking two
glasses of milk — always sip milk slowly, taking five min-
utes for each glassful. Better yet, break and beat two raw
eggs into the milk before you drink it. If you can get
sweet cream, drink cream every day. Half a glass of cream
is a rather rich drink, but it can be made easy to digest
by diluting it with seltzer. Get a syphon of cold seltzer and
squirt it into the half glass of cream, and it makes a de-
licious, nourishing and digestible drink.

Malt and cod liver oil are admirable fat producers.
There are on the market one or two honest preparations of
malt and cod liver oil which are not unpleasant to take. A
tablespoonful in a glass of milk makes a valuable drink.

You should arrange to weigh yourself every day. If pos-
sible get a bathroom scale and always weigh in the morning
as soon as you get out of bed. Whatever you weigh at
night you will weigh from one and a half to two pounds
less in the morning. If not convenient to weigh without
your clothes on, then be sure you weigh always with the
same clothes.

CHAPTER XVII

EXERCISES THAT HELP MAKE YOU BEAUTIFUL

HERE are exercises that reconstruct, build over, and

there are exercises that destroy, chiefly by excess. I
am going to tell you of the first sort. The second may be
dismissed as violent exercises. Violence is always a de-
stroyer of beauty. Excessive exercise with heavy dumb-
bells, whose weight exceeds the strength of the person
wielding them, I mention as one of the worst of these de-
stroyers.

I have before said, and I am glad to have an opportunity
to repeat, that I disapprove of heavy exercise for women.
Extreme physical effort taxes the strength and leaves its
marks upon the countenance, writing the heavy, disfiguring
characters of fatigue. It overdevelops the muscles, robbing
the figure of its soft, delicate outline, making it bumpy, un-
seemly and masculine.

Exercise for women should have three aims. First, se-
curing as much fresh air as is needed for health. Second,
as much motion and adjustment of the internal organs as
are needed for health. Third, for the correction of such
habits as are threatening to the health and disfiguring to the
beauty. A good eclectic system of exercises serves all these
purposes.

A simple exercise that I have long used when I noticed
a tendency of the shoulders to sag forward is to place my
arms behind me, bend them at the elbows and thrust be-
tween the back and the elbows my brother’s cane. When

EXERCISES THAT MAKE YOU BEAUTIFUL 231

he rebelled or when he and his precious cane were absent,
I used my own umbrella or sunshade. The temporary sup-
port drew the shoulders far back and expanded the lungs
so greatly that it became my favorite exercise. In this
attitude I walk about the room many times, or, standing
before the open window, tightly close my lips and breathe
deeply. This I continue for fifteen minutes, unless my
arms grow very weary, in which case I cease for the time,
beginning again in a few minutes when I have rested. In
all exercises I stop short of the point of fatigue.

For a sagging abdomen, slow, regular bending exercises
are best. Stand with the arms raised above the head and
the palms forward. Keep the elbows straight. With a
slow, sweeping motion bend forward until the tips of the
fingers reach the floor in front of you. This is difficult,
especially for the stout and those with muscles stiffened
from lack of use.

When you have mastered this exercise, by practise, thrust
the hands clasped at the finger points as far back between
the knees as you can. In this way a semicircle is de-
scribed at one sweeping motion, and the abdominal muscles
are strengthened at the same time and the abdominal organs
stimulated.

For inactive, heavy back muscles the rotary trunk motion
is best. Bend the body forward from the waist line, and
swing the upper part of the body slowly around as though
the waist were a pivot. Move the trunk slowly to the right
as far as it will go, then to the left as far as possible. Sway
slowly from the extreme right to left and back again, being
careful not to wrench the body. These last two exercises
are invaluable for setting sluggish intestines at work.

Hundreds of queries are sent me putting in various ways
the one essential question : “ What shall I do for a muddy

complexion ? ” Let me answer all those questions now and
briefly. Set your sluggish liver to work. The exercises I

232

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

have just described will aid in that most necessary work.
So will walks long enough for sufficient exercise, yet not
long enough to exhaust you.

If all these, together with much water-drinking, fail to
correct the liver-marked complexion, this will be assuredly
helpful: Standing perfectly erect, raise the right arm as

high as you can, stretching the left arm downward at the
same time. Reverse this motion, and alternate the two.
This air-sawing, done rapidly, will bestir the laziest liver.

For chronic indigestion I recommend walking, varied by
rope- jumping. After a brisk walk, return to your room
and, resting briefly, jump the rope from twenty to fifty
times. Your strength must determine the number. It is
better to begin with ten times and increase the number to
fifty, or even seventy-five, as you become accustomed to the
unusual exercise.

A favorite exercise of mine is the simple, easy one of
sitting straight. Sitting straight develops the habit of poise.
I sit every day before a mirror, and at sufficient distance
from it so that I can see my reflection at full length. I note
whether my chest is high or drooping. If high, I know
that my figure is at normal. If drooping, I at once seek
the cane or umbrella of which I have spoken and take the
shoulder and chest raising exercise I first described, and
which I call my “ uplifting ” exercise.

This I vary by clasping my hands behind and letting the
head rest in them as a cup, while I inhale and exhale pro-
foundly, moving the head slowly in its socket of clasped
hands from one side to the other.

Swinging about on my revolving dressing stool, I note
closely and critically my profile from brow to toe. If my
chin tends to sag, seems by the slightest tendency to sag, I
lift it as high as I can and, closing my teeth tightly, draw
the backs of my hands alternately across it. I repeat this
exercise fifty times, until the chin tingles and I know that

EXERCISES THAT MAKE YOU BEAUTIFUL 233

the renewed circulation is doing its work of restoring the
firmness of the muscles. My chin, I may explain, seldom
displays the pendulous tendency, for I sleep with a very low
pillow or no pillow at all. The high pillow I regard as one
of the greatest enemies of beauty, for it causes curving
shoulders and heavy chin.

Deep breathing is in itself a superb tonic, and certain
exercises aid greatly in forming that habit and developing
the power to breathe from the very extreme of the lungs,
creating, so to speak, a continual draught in the lungs.
Climbing is one of these. The well-known value of moun-
tain-climbing is due to the fact that it necessitates deep
breathing. If mountain-climbing is not open to you, there
must be hills within- your reach. And there are always
staircases. This exercise, being somewhat taxing, should
be moderately and gradually taken. Climbing develops the
calves and thighs.

A horse is a splendid colleague in the work of upbuilding.
A gallop sends the “ reconstructive ” fresh air, the true car-
penter of the body, rushing through the body, doing his
work quickly and well.

Young women who complain of dark circles under the
eyes admit, by describing that symptom, depressed circula-
tion. All of these exercises that develop the power and
habit of deep breathing correct lowered circulation and im-
poverished blood and cure their unlovely symptoms.

From India, where the gospel of deep breathing as a
spiritual as well as physical aid was born, comes a method
of deep breathing that is wonderfully quieting to rebellious
nerves. Close the eyes, and with the forefinger pressed
closely against the left nostril, completely closing it, inhale
and expel the air solely through the right nostril. Next,
closing the right nostril by placing the forefinger upon it,
breathe deeply through the left. Reverse these operations,
and continue this alternate breathing for several minutes.

234

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

For clearing clogged lungs this, also derived from India,
is useful: Inhale naturally and deeply, but expel the air

slowly and thoroughly from between the lips, letting it
escape with a whistling sound. Remember, however, to in-
hale through the nostrils alone, expelling only with the lips,
for while germs cannot be drawn into the system through
the nostrils, the fine hairs which line the nose being nature’s
sieve, they swarm from without into the open mouth at the
slightest chance. That chance is afforded by the intake of
air. This outrush, of course, bars their entrance.

It is really one of the simplest things in the world to have
healthy lungs. Sit erect, stand erect, walk erect. And if
you go through life sitting correctly, standing correctly and
walking correctly, you will breathe correctly, and, breathing
correctly, you will have healthy lungs.

And in order to have a good pair of lungs, a working
machine that will serve you well all your life, begin at
once — the younger you are, of course, the better — to build
up the muscles between the shoulder blades, the muscles
at the top of the shoulders and the muscles at the back of
the neck.

Fresh air you must have, of course — plenty of it. But
of what avail the purest oxygen if there are districts in that
wonderful region inside your ribs where a breath of fresh
air can never reach. And those are the very spots where
pulmonary germs, like Jeshurun in the Bible, wax fat and
kick. When one has little plague spots like these inside of
his anatomy, fresh air and exercise, the usual prescriptions
for sick lungs, are of no great value unless erect sitting,
standing and walking are systematic and continuous habits.
Then only are fresh air and dry sunshine of avail to affect
radically the germs of tuberculosis.

Begin right off now. Straighten up. Whether you have
well lungs or sick lungs, start exercising. The results ob-
tained by even the simplest gymnastics are often magical,

EXERCISES THAT MAKE YOU BEAUTIFUL 235

not only as a gain in health but as a distinct asset of physi-
cal beauty. One of your shoulders may hang a little lower
than the other; that will work much harm to a depressed
lung. Look to it always that your shoulders are well up in
the air and well back. Lift up and throw back your shoul-
ders so that your shoulder blades will lie flat on the back
of your ribs, with the tops of the shoulders themselves
pointing directly upward. Make this a habit.

I myself exercise but little. The reason is apparent. I
am of slight physique, requiring rather a fostering of the
vital spark than a lavish expenditure of it, in the direction
of muscle making.

Light gymnastics after the bath in the morning, and a
drive in the afternoon quite suffice for me. Since I never
grow fat there is no need of training down. Therefore the
exercise I take is quite enough for my needs.

But for American women, with their tendency to grow
fat, this, I know, is not enough. While I believe there
should be only enough exercise to properly tone the body,
yet some require much more for this purpose than others,
and there is not enough toning, when the body grows fat.

There is no one form of exercise so generally tonic to
the system, I think, as walking. If a woman be of the
bilious temperament, with an inclination to grow sallow
and heavy-eyed, she needs longer walks than the woman of
sanguine temperament, whose blood leaps through her veins
and seems to seek escape by way of the mounting blushes
in her cheeks.

A woman who needs walking, and she and her physician
should be the best judges of whether she does, may begin
by walking five city blocks and end by walking five or six
miles. She should increase the distance gradually, for one
long walk may be of brief benefit, but regular long walks
are of inestimable value. It is never well to begin suddenly
violent, unaccustomed exercise.

236

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

The chief value of walking is that it forces deep breath-
ing, and deep breathing causes a cleansing of the intestines,
as when a blast of cold air is introduced into a furnace it
burns up all the refuse that while the fire was low clung to
the sides and back of the grate. Here is a fact that should
be kept hanging on a prominent peg in the memory. In
ordinary instances, when a person rests he breathes four
hundred and eighty cubic inches of air a minute. This is
much less than is needed for cleansing the body. That is
the reason why I oppose too much sleep. During the sleep-
ing hours the amount of air we breathe is much reduced.
That is the reason why many persons look at their worst
when they rise in the morning. Lack of the amount of
oxygen they take into the body when they are moving
about, leaves their cheeks pale, their muscles sagging, and
their eyes dim. Note how much handsomer you are an
hour afterward than immediately upon rising.

On the other hand, while walking at the rate of four miles
an hour, which is not the maximum rate, you will inhale
five times as much air, that is 2,400 cubic inches, in the
same time. Have you a room or suite of rooms, containing
four windows? Have you opened one, and, finding that the
air was not being freshened fast enough, have you opened
the other three and noticed the instant improvement ? That
then must be the best argument for walking as against driv-
ing.

If you form the daily walk habit see that it becomes a
daily habit. Don’t stay indoors, because it is too hot, or
because it is raining. One should not take her daily walk
in midsummer while the sun is highest. Rise earlier and
take the walk in the dewy part of the day before break-
fast.

If it is raining dress for the walk in the coquettish little
rubber boots that are now fashionable, and the short serge
or flannel walking skirt, and the little Tam o’Shanter or

EXERCISES THAT MAKE YOU BEAUTIFUL 237

turban. Thus garbed, you don’t care how wet you become.
Leave your umbrella behind and let the rain pour upon your
face. It will be the most grateful bath you ever had in
your life. The rain bath for the face is delicious. Having
had one you will lose no opportunity to take another. You
will see in your glowing cheeks their first resemblance to
the rose complexion of the Englishwoman, the finest com-
plexion in the world.

The walk is cheaper and its effects a thousand times more
lasting than any cosmetic. It throws off the enveloped
cloak of lassitude that hides beauty. No woman is so at-
tractive when she is listless as when she is thoroughly and
happily alive. The walk awakens the sleeping or sub-
merged self. It makes life under any circumstances seem
worth while. And a woman, to keep her beauty, must
always think life worth while.

I have seen a woman start on her walk pale, dull eyed,
with the drooping lips that give the appearance of greater
age, and have seen her return from that walk an hour later,
her sallowness replaced by a clear pink skin, her eyes youth-
fully bright, her lips curling upward, the sign of content,
her step springy. By the magic of the walk she seemed at
least five years younger. Most of the famous pedestrians
live to an old age. In a small town in America lives a man
of seventy-five who recently took a two hundred mile walk
in three days, stopping only for short rests of a few hours.
He returned home, having rid himself of a bilious attack.

Another seventy-year-old youth walked off the rheuma-
tism in a ramble from San Francisco to New York.

Therein lies one of the greatest values of the walk. It
eliminates lingering, self-made poisons from the system.

An excess of uric acid is just now the fashionable afflic-
tion. No one suffers from it who is an habitual walker.
Rheumatism and gout are caused by the settling of deposits
about the joints. Those deposits of poisonous matter are

238

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

not permitted to form if there is a thorough elimination by
means of walking and much water drinking.

Indigestion in its various forms can be corrected, especi-
ally in the earlier stages, by walking, in connection with
careful diet. Indigestion is a physical failing, especially
peculiar to women. Walking, by bringing into play unused
muscles and by making deep breathing necessary, as a walk
always does, relieves this condition. Whatever clears the
internal organs clears the complexion. Whatever naturally
clears the internal organs brightens the eyes. Whatever
promotes deep breathing lays in a new stock of vigor, as we
fill our cellars with coal in the winter.

Riding is good exercise for women, if not taken in excess.
Its drawback is that the side saddle forces one hip and
shoulder higher than the other. If a woman rides she
should by all means ride astride, so obviating this diffi-
culty.

While I take my own morning exercise after the bath,
with no aid whatever, dumbbells are valuable to those who
“ cannot become interested in freehand exercise.” I should
advise beginning with the smallest dumbbells made, those
weighing one to half a pound.

Wrapped in a lightweight woolen bathrobe, and wearing
tights or knickerbockers, hose and sandals or slippers, let
her stand before the open window while she manipulates
the dumbbells. With shoulders back and chest thrown out
and head erect, let her curl the dumbbells twenty times,
meanwhile breathing slowly and deeply in time with the
exercise.

Start with the dumbbells at the shoulders and push them
high over the head, counting and breathing deeply twenty
times.

Rest for five minutes, the dumbbells standing on the floor
in front of you. Bending your knees very little, but keep-
ing your arms straight, rise to an erect position, with the

MADAME CAVALIERI IN HER MUSIC ROOM

EXERCISES THAT MAKE YOU BEAUTIFUL 239

dumbbells resting at your waist. Repeat this exercise, but
raising the bells as high and as far behind your neck as
possible.

Now start with the bells held by the arms in a horizontal
position. Raise the bells until they are high above the head,
then lower to the first position, keeping the elbows straight.

When this exercise has become easy, turn back the face
until you are gazing at the ceiling. Breathe deeply. This
is one of the best known exercises for chest expansion.
The others develop the back, arms, chest, shoulders and
waist.

This is valuable to correct a torpid liver. Stand erect.
Raise the right arm, reaching as far as you can with it, at
the same time pushing downward with the left hand. Re-
verse this movement, pushing upward with the left hand
and downward with the right hand. Alternate until you
are nearly breathless.

For a flat chest this exercise without apparatus is helpful.
Shrug the shoulders as high and as fast as possible, ceasing
only when you become dizzy. This, if the shoulders are
even. If they are uneven, practice raising the defective one
alone until in the course of weeks or months they are
straightened, or carry a high cane on that side.

For the girl who has not learned to breathe correctly —
that is, deeply, it is well to stand before the open window,
and with her hands raised, the palms outward, inhale deeply,
counting ten, hold, counting ten, exhale, counting ten.

Or this : Clasp the hands behind the head, the palms sup-

porting it, and with the chest thrust forward, inhale, count
and exhale as advised. If this at first causes giddiness
count but four and gradually, as the body becomes accus-
tomed to the new exercises, increase the counts to ten, and
even to twenty-five.

For a stretching of all the muscles the best exercise I
know is to clench the fists and, raising the arms, with elbows

240 MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

unbent, above the head, stretch the body to the greatest pos-
sible height.

Another to give suppleness to the body is to rise on the
tiptoes, then lower the body until the weight rests upon
the soles, then up and down again fifty times. I have
known persons so infatuated with this exercise that they
repeated it two hundred, and even five hundred times a day.

One warning: Never carry exercise beyond the point

of slight fatigue. Never let it reach the point of exhaus-
tion, for exhaustion, like illness, is a synonym for ugliness.

Women fancy that a weak back is the heritage of their
sex. They fancy that aches, and pains in that region are
inevitable. In this they are mistaken. The back may be
rebuilded and strengthened as can other weak spots. Dis-
creet exercises are the best aid in that desirable direction.

For children who are growing round shouldered, shoulder
braces are, for a time, beneficial, for they train the muscles
to erectness. When this training has been accomplished
the braces should be removed and the child required to prac-
tice the carriage the brace has taught him. But for a
grown person I never advise braces except as a last resort in
a desperate case, and particularly in cases of lung affec-
tions, to require the person to inhale fresh air.

We often receive the advice, “ Rest your back to stop its
aching.” This is sound advice in cases of extreme fatigue,
but generally the best way to rest the back is to strengthen
it, and the way to strengthen it is by well directed, but not
violent, exercises.

Every muscle in the body is there for some use. Every-
one should have enough exercise to keep it healthy. The
muscles of the back are weak because they are so seldom
used.

The best exercises for development of these neglected
muscles are those which involve stooping. Spoiled, pam-
pered beauties test themselves by stooping, and if they can

EXERCISES THAT MAKE YOU BEAUTIFUL 241

touch the floor with their finger tips, without bending the
knees, they pronounce themselves fit. Women less spoiled
and pampered have far less anxiety about keeping fit.
Their everyday work requires enough stooping to keep the
muscles of the back flexible and the muscles of the abdomen
firm, and of normal size.

Lifting moderate weights from the floor is a good exer-
cise for strengthening the back. If the back be very weak
it is well to begin with an empty bucket. As exercises
strengthen it gradually fill the pail. A basket with a handle
may serve the same purpose. Stoorp slowly, and slowly lift
the weight. Keep the leg muscles tense and make the mus-
cles of the arms tense. Reach slowly forward and lift the
weight with both hands. Lift it on a level with the waist
line. Then lower it as slowly to the floor.

Next to stooping, twisting the muscles of the back is a
good exercise for strengthening it. But let this twisting be
slowly and gently done, or this will be one of the instances
in which the remedy is worse than the disease. Violent
exercise will only make the muscles weaker and cause a
more severe ache, and possibly a severe injury, by wrench-
ing them.

This is the best method for the twisting. Lift the arms
slowly above the head, with the elbows unbent. Then
slowly turn the body to the right, resting its weight on the
left leg. Swing the body around, keeping the arms above
the head but shifting the weight to the right leg. This is
a most valuable exercise, for it contorts the muscles, causes
a supply of blood to flow through them and by the unusual
action they gain strength.

The same exercise as the foregoing can be advantageously
done with the arms stretched out horizontally before you,
and swinging them in a large half circle, being careful to
shift the weight from one leg to the other and keeping tense
the muscles of the legs on which the weight rests.

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

As a rule round shoulders are the sign of weakened mus-
cles. Or the appearance of round shoulders may be given
by a too great accumulation of fat across the shoulders.

A good exercise to correct this is a simple squaring of the
shoulders, drawing in at the same time lungs full of air.
Push back your arms so that the forearms are on a level
with the waist and the elbows are pushed as far back as
possible. By a gentle sawing motion move the elbows for-
ward and back. This causes a rush of blood to the mus-
cles surrounding the shoulders, and nourishes the muscles
which you are exercising and banishes the fat cells.

To banish fat from the back draw the arms back as I
have described. Thrust between the back and elbows a
stout cane or a broomstick. Manipulate the cane by means
of the elbows so that the muscles are not only strengthened
but the cane is rolled over the flesh. The effect is to break
the fat cells.

This is sometimes more easily done if you hold the cane
in a diagonal position.

Useful to the same end is the exercise of sitting erect in
a chair and exaggeratedly shrugging the shoulders, first one,
then the other, then both together.

Work with light dumbbells will also in time reduce the
fat of the back, but I counsel the use of light clubs and
these in moderation. Standing erect, the feet resting flatly
on the floor and the knees unbending, raise the dumbbells
slowly above the head without bending the elbows. As
slowly lower them until the arms hang loosely at the sides.

If you notice that one shoulder is higher than the other,
give heed to your hips. The hip on the other side is prob-
ably thrust up and the shoulder on that side sinks, the
shoulder on the opposite side rising to balance it. So if one
shoulder is high, correct your way of standing. Stand with
the weight evenly divided and rest on the balls of your feet.

EXERCISES THAT MAKE YOU BEAUTIFUL 243

Your shoulders will drop naturally into place. Keep them
in place. .

Have you ever thought of the broomstick as an aid to
beauty? Jesting? Not at all. I wish to convince you that
that everyday tool for keeping your home clean is a means
of making yourself handsomer. Indeed, yes.

Sweeping itself is an admirable exercise. It gives a vari-
ety of activity by causing several of the least used muscles
to stretch and contract. Sweep vigorously and thoroughly
and you will feel the rush of blood to the muscles of your
forearm, to the muscles surrounding your shoulder blades
and to those at the small of the back. And, more valuable
than any of these, it causes you to bend the body at the
waist, thus strengthening the muscles which are weak in
nearly all women, those of the abdomen, muscles which, al-
lowed to become weak and flaccid, cause that part of the
body to sag, giving an unlovely prominence with the ugly
bulge at the hips which caused a visiting artist from Europe
to sneer:

“ Ah, the great American figure is not, as I thought, the
Almighty dollar. No, it is the unexercised forms of the
women.”

The American woman has learned to develop and keep
in control the upper half of her figure. Fine chests, with a
graceful line from the shoulder to the bust, have grown
common among American women. Many of them have
mastered the not difficult art of deep breathing, so expanded
the chest, developed the lung power and perfected what
may be termed their upper halves.

But the glaring defect remains — the clumsy, conspicuous
lower half of the body, which can only be made pliable and
symmetrical with the rest of the body by exercises, among
which note this simple one I have named, sweeping. Any
household exercise that causes you to bend at the waist to

244

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

the floor will keep the hips and abdomen in control, and in
time diminish their size.

For this reason, if not for that of neatness, never lose an
opportunity, if your figure has the defect I mention, to stoop
to pick up a bit of paper or lint, or a scrap of cloth, from the
floor.

Stoop from the waist. Don’t resort to that trick of the
indolent or the awkward, falling upon the knees when you
pick up anything. Stooping is a graceful posture. Learn
it.

If the defect in your figure is the other sort, the broom-
stick is still your friend. But use it in a different way. If
you have a weak, narrow chest, if you are round shouldered,
you should apply yourself to development in a different di-
rection and your sweeping should not be the main object,
but an incident, of your broom handle exercise. And if you
are of this habit be sure to protect your not robust lungs
from the dust raised, to some extent, by sweeping, even
though the broom be swathed in a damp cloth, by keeping
your lips firmly closed. Dust is nearly always disease laden.
While the dry disease germs might continue their way
through the air without causing breeding of disease, the
darkness and moisture and the weakness of your lungs, to
which they find their way through the open mouth, will stir
them into new life and you will be the victim. Never, in
any circumstances, inhale through the mouth. Occasion-
ally to rid the body of an excess of carbonic acid gas you
may safely exhale through the mouth to still further purify
the body. Never, never, take in air through the mouth.
Don’t allow the nose to become lazy. To inhale air is its
duty. Force it to perform it. And aid it by keeping the
nostrils free from clogging substances.

The broom stick will serve its best purpose for you by be-
ing shortened, cut to a length of two or two and a half feet,
according to the “ reach ” of your arms. Grasping the stick

EXERCISES THAT MAKE YOU BEAUTIFUL 245

firmly, with a hand at either end, hold it high above the head
and draw the air in deeply, filling the lungs to their capac-
ity with full draughts of air. When you have filled every
cell of the lungs with the fresh air hold the stick firmly
above the head, count silently at least five. This done,
drop your arms slowly, your hands still clenching the stick,
in front of you, below the waist. While doing this expel
the air gently until you feel that the lungs are almost empty
of air.

It is not enough to say to most persons : “ Shallow

breathing is a bad habit. Correct it.” The active human
mind is an interrogation point and demands the courtesy and
satisfaction of an answer.

Well, then, the results of shallow breathing are these:
Sensitiveness to all the conditions that cause colds, and a
disposition to allow colds to deepen into consumption or
widen into pneumonia. Shallow breathing makes the liver
lazy, and soon the body is bile flooded, the eyes becoming
dull and the complexion yellow and lifeless. Clogged
stomach and intestines are the marks of the shallow
breather, for the body engine has not enough oxygen
draught to burn up the fuel that has been thrown into it
as food.

It is only the deep breather who enjoys life to its full
and shows her enjoyment of it.

If you are not already an out-of-door woman become one
at the earliest opportunity. Make a business of learning at
least one of the outdoor sports.

Shall it be golf? Then you will have chosen well, for
golf develops the muscles which are not strong in women,
those of the back. By encouraging deep breathing it de-
velops her chest. By causing her to bend considerably
from the waist it strengthens her abdominal muscles. Be-
cause it causes her to walk a great deal it strengthens weak
ankles and develops the muscles of the lower leg. These

246

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

points, remembered and practiced, will make you a better
golf player and will develop your health and strength in a
corresponding ratio. Select your clubs with careful view
to their length, and this will depend upon your own height
and the length of your arms. To choose a club that is too
long is as foolish and injurious as it is, if you are short, to
sit upon a chair so high that your feet dangle.

Learn a good position for your strokes with wooden
clubs at the very beginning. You should be erect. One
leg should be straight under the body. Its heel should be
on the ground, the toe a little pointed in. Slightly below
the hips and not more than four inches from the body
should be the level of the grip.

Because freedom of the wrists is so very important better
practice when not on the links with a cane or closed um-
brella. Place the hands together and hold them quite still
in front of the hips, depending for the motion of the stick
entirely upon the wrists. Remember that the golf stick
swings on a pivot formed by the hands and wrists.

One of the benefits of golf playing to a woman is that it
teaches concentration. The eye must be kept upon the ball,
not before it is struck or while it is leaving the sward, but
after it has left the ground.

If you take up lawn tennis play in moderation, especially
at the beginning. I like tennis for women because it in-
duces a fine flow of perspiration that will carry the clogging
poisons out of the system. It stimulates the circulation
and forces deep breathing. It has the further value of dis-
tributing the exercise rather generally throughout the mus-
cles of the body. Many women play tennis, but few play it
well. A reason is that they are careless in learning the
first principles of the game. They are liable to grasp the
racket loosely, and this spoils their play. Relax your grasp
and the racket will turn in the hand while you make your

EXERCISES THAT MAKE YOU BEAUTIFUL 247

stroke. Always hold it by the extreme end, letting the
leather binding on the handle rest against the palm.

For your preliminary practice before you play a game
that is watched by critical friends practice strokes alone.
Bat the ball against the kitchen door or the bam door or
the neighbor’s fence.

You will have spent your vacation well if during it you
learn to swim.

Train yourself to the confidence and fearlessness that
are necessary to master swimming. Make yourself realize
that you need not fear deep water. It is no more danger-
ous to have two feet of water over your head than as many
inches. This is especially true of salt water, for the deep-
est water has the greatest power to hold a body on its
surface.

CHAPTER XVIII

POSTPONING THE DREAD SIGNS OF OLD AGE

EVERY woman is haunted by a specter, the dread ghost
of old age. At sixteen girls begin to dread it. At
thirty-six women set traps for it. At sixty they ward it
off as best they may. I will tell you to-day what are the
marks of old age and how to remove them.

Women search their faces in the mirror for the first faint
lines that they fear may develop into wrinkles. The im-
portance of these lines they greatly exaggerate. For ex-
ample, there are even on a baby’s neck two parallel lines
known to experts as “ lines of beauty.” Others have named
them “ the collar of Venus.” Women foolishly try to re-
move them, while the truth is that if a woman does not
have them she lacks a recognized sign of beauty, and writes
herself down to all beholders as so fat that her flesh has
swallowed up her Venus’s collar.

The infallible first sign of age is the sagging cheek mus-
cles. These are more serious and more difficult to treat
than wrinkles. When, at the merciless inspection of her
face, which every wise woman gives herself in the morning,
a woman detects signs of these sagging muscles, she must
at once get to work upon them. The sagging muscles in-
dicate that they have grown too weak to remain in place,
and they must be assisted, strengthened. The way to
strengthen them is to cause freer circulation in those parts
that are affected. And the way to stimulate circulation is
to massage the surfaces where circulation is desired.

248

THE DREAD SIGNS OF OLD AGE 249

But one must be very careful about the massage. Bad,
that is, unintelligent massage, is worse than none.

Study the drooping cheek muscles and you will notice
that they are apt to sag from the cheek over the edge of
the lower jawbone, and try to melt in an ungraceful way
into the neck. This is not to be permitted. The jawbone
should keep its thin, fine edge to the end of life. The nearer
it is like a razor edge in sharpness the nearer you are
to keeping the facial line of youth. Some babes are born
moon-faced and moon-faced remain. But it is true, never-
theless, in the large majority of cases, that if the lower
edge of the jaw is of knife-like sharpness the woman who
possesses it is young. If it be muffled by flesh the woman
is old or is growing old.

Since the flesh is inclined to melt down into the chin, so
forming the double or triple chin, it is necessary to massage
that surplus flesh. Strengthen the muscles of the true or
normal chin thus:

With a pure massage cream give one stroke to the mus-
cles of the chin with the right hand, then with the left, and
so alternate. Pass the hands from side to side, one under
the other. When you have made twenty such strokes give
your attention to the cheek muscles proper. With the tips
of the first, second and third fingers rub slowly and gently,
with a rotary motion upward and backward along the line
of the jaw, and upward to the hair line. Repeat this opera-
tion again and again until the cheek muscles and the fingers
are weary. When they have rested begin again, this time
with the softer flesh above the jaw. Use the first three
fingers again and let the motion be backward and upward
again, but the pressure should be much lighter, for these
muscles have not the bony support of the lower ones, and
it is always hazardous to work other than skillfully on such
muscles. For instance, the flesh just beneath the eye should
never be touched.

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

Twice a day is often enough for ordinary cases. But in
extreme cases ten minutes for massage four times a day is
not too often.

Also let the woman whose cheek muscles are beginning
to sag and who by the same token is acquiring a double
chin, remember to keep up her head. Ordinarily a woman
may turn to the flower for lessons in beauty. In this in-
stance she must look to the horse. How much handsomer
is the horse that carries his head high, and how much
younger he looks!

Keep your head up while you are walking, while you are
talking, even while you are resting. Did you ever see a
beauty, even when in repose, allow her chin to sink upon
her breast? Not while she is conscious. No, no. When
she is exhausted from a long walk or a dance she rests the
back of her head against the back of a lounging chair, but
her chin is always up, always. And this not only while
she is awake, but while she is asleep. Do not sleep upon
a pillow if you can possibly rest without it. Or, if you
must have a pillow, let it be very small. And try to lie on
vour back, with your chin up. That is the best position for
health and beauty.

And now about another particular sign-post of age.
There is a saying which persons always accompany by point-
ing to the delicate lines in front of and extending below the
lower portion of a woman’s ear : “ That is where a woman

first shows her age.*’ In part that is true. There is one
extenuating fact. Some ears are set much closer to the
head than others. Those that are set well back and in draw
the skin with a drum-like tightness at the base of the ear.
Lines never form about ears so set. But if they grow well
away from the head the skin about the ear is loose and
the lines are sure to come between thirty and fort)'. I have
seen them come about the ears of girls of nineteen. They
too can be removed by massage. Use the third finger of

THE DREAD SIGNS OF OLD AGE 251

each hand and massage with both hands at once, nibbing
slowly, with gentle rotary motion upward.

I have known some women to pin back the ears. So they
call it; but it consists merely in passing a band of white
muslin around beneath the nose and sloping upward about
the upper lobes of the ear, thus pinning, or pinioning them.
This done for eight hours of every twenty-four, when the
person is asleep, should do a great deal toward smoothing
away the betraying little lines.

Another sign of age appears about the ears. There, as
a rule, the hair first begins to grow gray. It would be well
to cut rather than pull out these first gray hairs, for the hair
pulled out usually means a mutilation and irritation of the
scalp in that part of the head. But if they persist in grow-
ing I would recommend resignation — or dyeing. I do not
advocate hair dyes. The only substance I know that I be-
lieve is not injurious is henna, which the Egyptians, who
had wonderful hair, used. But Vienna gives the hair a red-
dish cast. If my hair were growing gray and thin about
the ears and temples I would massage those parts often
with lanolin.

Dull eyes and dark circles under the eyes are believed to
be one sign of departing youth and vigor. Quite as often
they are signs of impaired health, of anaemia.

If you are anaemic, you should go to a reliable physician
and get a prescription for some good rebuilder. If this is
not possible, give yourself the good home treatment of
plenty of sleep, of more than the usual outdoor exercise,
and of a diet of eggs, beets, spinach and string beans, all
those things which contain much iron.

For the woman who is beginning to “ show her age ” I
prescribe much rest, but never rest after a meal. She
should rest before meals, say a siesta of an hour and a half
before luncheon and dinner, but not immediately afterward.
Rest after a meal induces flesh.

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

A sign of age is a dragging gait. The woman who wants
to remain young should repair the waste by more rest.
When she is in the privacy of her room she can completely
relax. But for her in public there should be no relaxation.
Let her remember the tendency to this dragging and in
public be as truly on parade as a soldier at guard drill.

Also in the older woman we note bent shoulders. They
should be straightened. Best of all by massage. A long,
full stroke over the shoulders with the palms of the hands,
meeting at a point between the shoulder blades. If mas-
sage did not cure I should try the shoulder and back braces
sold at pharmacists’.

But massage with pure cold cream, tested and analyzed
by a chemist, is the best friend of the older as well as the
younger woman who wishes to be beautiful. This is excel-
lent for oily skins :

One ounce tincture of benzoin; two drams tincture of
musk ; four drams tincture of ambergris ; five ounces recti-
fied spirits; one and one-half pints orange flower water.

This I recommend especially for delicate skins easily
roughened by the wind :

Three ounces almond oil; five drams white wax; five
drams of spermaceti ; one dram oil of bitter almonds ; three
ounces elder flower water ; one ounce witch hazel.

This, a simpler cream, is wholesome and efficacious :

Four ounces almond oil; four ounces rosewater; one
ounce spermaceti ; one ounce white wax.

This is an excellent preparation also for an oily skin:

Six ounces orange flower water, triple extract ; one ounce
deodorized alcohol ; one ounce blanched bitter almonds ; one
dram white wax; one dram spermaceti; one dram oil of
benne ; twelve drops oil of bergamot ; six drops oil of cloves ;
six drops oil of bigarade ; one-quarter ounce borax.

This is an excellent massage cream, having cleansing
properties :

THE DREAD SIGNS OF OLD AGE

253

Three ounces oil of sweet almonds ; two drams balsam of
tolu; ten drams oil of bitter almonds; two drams benzoin;
two drops essence of lemon; two drops essence of cajeput.

An exquisite cream, much used by those who are fastidi-
ous, is this:

Four ounces oil of sweet almonds ; six drams white wax ;
six drams spermaceti ; two drams borax ; one ounce glycer-
ine; five drops oil of neroli; fifteen drops oil of bigarade
(extracted from orange skin) ; fifteen drops oil of petit
grain.

Some women of the old school prefer a liquid prepara-
tion to a cream. One of these was the beautiful Queen
Elizabeth of Hungary. Her complexion was once the toast
of Europe, and this when she had reached a very advanced
age. I have used this modification of her favorite lotion
for the face:

One-half ounce oil of rosemary ; two drams oil of laven-
der ; thirty grains oil of petit grain ; three drams tincture
of tolu; one-half pint orange flower water; five ounces
rectified spirits.

Let us consider first the cause of wrinkles. The causes,
rather, should I say, for the sources of wrinkles are five.
They are : Age, worry, weariness, the bad habit of mak-

ing faces, and the shrinking of the flesh away from the skin.

We cannot arrest age, the process of growing old, but we
can conceal for a long time the fact of age. I believe it is
quite possible for a woman to say, “ From this moment I
shall not appear to grow older/’ and to achieve that end.
I have known women who have seemed to stop short the
revolutions in the wheels of time for twenty years. Others
I have known who by a new regimen, or by changing their
mental attitude toward life, accustoming themselves to that
most wonderful of all rejuvenators, taking a more cheerful
view, have seemed to grow five or ten years younger.

Age is not an inevitable creator of wrinkles. It merely

254

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

deepens the tracks made by our thoughts, wearing them
deeper and deeper with the years as the wheels of a wagon
cut deeper and deeper into the clay of a country road. It
is to be seen then that prevention is a large part of the treat-
ment of wrinkles. To cure wrinkles first look to it that
you do not acquire them.

Worry is another foe of the childlike smoothness of skin
that is one of the most desirable states of beauty. The out-
ward and visible signs of inward worry appear chiefly in
two areas, in the diagonal lines extending from the nostrils
to the lips, and in the forehead where they create what a
precocious child, studying his mother’s face, called “ gutters
for the tears.” These lines are interesting as indicators of
character. The woman with deep lines about her lips has
greater determination and passion. She has a more intense
emotional nature. The woman with the strongly marked
horizontal lines in the forehead is more intellectual. Her
anxieties are mental, while those of the woman with the
parentheses are temperamental. To the woman with the
ever growing deeper tracery on her forehead I should say,
“ Don’t fret.” The woman with the fast deepening paren-
theses I advise, “ Don’t care.” Consider these bits of ad-
vice. The distinction is illuminative.

The accustomed eye sees readily the characters written
by fatigue. They are rather creases than wrinkles, deep
folds in the skin, as though the covering of the muscles had
grown weary and limp, and was resting from its task of
smoothly fitting over the muscles. They are perhaps the
most disfiguring of the wrinkles and the hardest to remove.

The bad habit of making faces — I shrink appalled from
my task of preventing this, or of counseling how to remove
its traces. Some women, especially American women, have
yielded to the ugly habit thinking that the lines that follow
it are the price one must pay for her vivacity. But they
are mistaken, hopelessly, fatally mistaken. One of the

KITTY GORDON

Her arms, neck and shoulders furnish an ideal which every
woman should try to attain.

THE DREAD SIGNS OF OLD AGE

255

most vivacious faces I have known is that of a beautiful
French woman. Her face is like a mirror, but the eyes and
mouth are the only reflectors. She does not draw the
mouth down at one corner or the other while she talks.
She does not raise her eyebrows until they threaten to be-
come lost in her hair, puckering the skin at the corners of
the eyes as though there were a drawing string beneath
them. She does not prove her concentration upon a topic
of conversation by creating deep horizontal lines in the
forehead above and between the eyes. She does not laugh
so violently that the flesh breaks up into ripples and eddies
about the eyes. She makes her glowing eyes and her smil-
ing lips express all her thought and emotion. So did all
the French beauties of old, which was the reason that
Ninon L’Enclos and Mme. Recamier, in their extreme age,
had lovers and no wrinkles.

The shrinking away of the muscles from the skin is a
serious menace to beauty. Its causes are several. Perhaps
a woman has reduced her flesh more suddenly than wisely.
Perhaps the shrinkage has been caused by anaemia. The
condition demands nourishment of the skin and of the mus-
cles beneath the skin. But this is merely a local treatment.
More than anything else it requires a rebuilding and re-
juvenation of the entire system.

Knowing the causes we must avoid them. We must re-
solve to conceal if we cannot stop the ageing process. We
must not, dare not, worry. We must never pass a certain
point of fatigue, that point at which we are too tired to
rest or sleep. Such a weariness is destructive. We must
not make faces while we talk. Whatever our emotions we
must try to keep our features serene as those of a mask.
Leave to the mouth and eyes the task of expression. We
must by nourishing both skin and muscles prevent their
divorcing each other.

But granted that the wrinkles have appeared what shall

256

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

we do to remove them? We must first remove the cause
which has produced them. If two ugly parallel lines are
discernible between the eyebrows we must correct that habit
of scowling, whose footprints are ugliness. And we must
avoid eye-strain. Often the lines in their beginning can be
removed by giving up the habit of reading except by day-
light, and then of not reading long continuously.

A young woman who, after much travel, noticed a light
but ominous tracery of delicate lines on her face, said:
“ Heavens ! I must take the rest cure, and buy cold cream
by the pound ! ” She was right. Those first menacing
wrinkles showed that she had not preserved the balance of
vitality which assures perfect health. She had given out
her strength faster than she renewed it. The outgo ex-
ceeded the inflow, which is merely over exertion, differently
phrased. She went to bed and remained there for three
days. In her darkened room sleep, the great ironer out of
lines, aided by the generous and frequent applications of
cold cream, removed her wrinkles. When she came forth
from her rest cure her skin was smooth and as delicately
flushed with pink as that of a healthy babe.

The cold cream which she had bought “ by the pound ”
was one of the best to be obtained in the market or to be
frugally made at home:

Spermaceti, y2 ounce ; white wax, y2 ounce ; oil of sweet
almonds, 2 ounces ; lanolin, 1 ounce ; cocoanut oil, 1 ounce ;
tincture of benzoin, 12 drops ; orange flower water, 1 ounce.

She might have used, as effectively, this which has an
astringent quality, while the former is essentially a skin
food:

Almond milk, iy2 ounces; rose water, 6 ounces; alum,
60 grains.

This relic of the customs of old France is another aid in
the removal of crow’s-feet or other paths of age :

Honey, 3 ounces; isinglass, iy2 ounces; pure vinegar,

THE DREAD SIGNS OF OLD AGE 257

preferably that made from white wine, 1 pint; shredded
red sandal wood, J4 dram.

A deliciously refreshing pomade classed with the wrinkle
removers is composed of :

White wax, 30 grams; honey, 15 grams; juice of lily
bulbs, 60 grams; rose water, 12 grams.

This is a liquid preparation which the beauties of the
Austrian court named in their gratitude “ The Water of
Eternal Youth ” :

Pulverized sweet almonds, 48 grains; pulverized gum
arabic, 32 grains ; pulverized benzoin, 32 grains ; pulverized
olibanum incense, 32 grains ; alcohol, 8 ounces ; cloves finely
ground, 16 grains.

The face should be washed with this as often as conven-
ient, and the preparation can be applied by wetting freely
bandages of cheese cloth or bolting cloth or old silk or
muslin, tied about the chin or forehead.

Of course these must be applied by careful and skillful
massage, the lines about the lips removed by a rotary mo-
tion of the second and third fingers of each hand, rubbing
upward toward the nose. The lines about the eyes should
be massaged in the same way, away from the corners of
the eyes and toward the hair line. The lines between the
brows should be ironed away by a pressure of the fingers
between the brows and sweeping away above the eyebrows
to the point where the eyebrows end. So for the horizontal
lines of the brow the rotary motion of the first three fingers
upward toward the hair. Afterward all this surface should
be gone over carefully with the light, tapping motion
which I have before described as being like the patter of
rain.

The woman who has reduced her flesh rapidly may find
the skin about the cheeks sagging into deep folds when she
bends her head. These can be corrected by three methods,
all of which I recommend to be used for that condition.

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

258

First she must cultivate as a habit that poise of the head
which is infinitely useful in removing a double chin. She
must keep the chin and head tilted upward, the most grace-
ful and becoming poise of the head for all women. She
should massage the muscles with the first three fingers, fol-
lowing the muscles backward toward the lines of the ears.
For the wee wrinkles that form in front of the ears massage
with the second finger, in rotary motion, gently back toward
the ear.

For obstinate wrinkles on the forehead adhesive plaster
may be cut into strips and pasted across the wrinkled
surface after the skin has been drawn taut into place by the
thumb and forefinger.

A home remedy is a compress of old linen or muslin
dipped into a mixture of the white of an egg and a gill of
alcohol. Press the loose skin back into place as I have
directed and apply the compress.

Dryness of the skin will cause wrinkles. To understand
this study two rose leaves, one moist and full veined and
nourished, the other drying and forming fine lines. The
dry skin wrinkles sooner and deeper than the oily skin.
Wrinkles are chiefly formed by the skin ceasing to fit well
over the muscles which it protects. This may be because
the muscles shrink or because the skin loses its firmness, or
both.

Try to avoid wrinkles by keeping your face placid. The
nervous person has more wrinkles and forms them earlier
than the one of more self-controlled nature. Don’t half
close your eyes when you laugh. That habit causes wrin-
kles. Don’t let your mouth droop when you are angry or
troubled. That carves deep lines about your lips, making
the dreaded parentheses. Don’t wrinkle your brow when
you talk or listen, to prove your veracity or interest. It is
a habit that carves transverse lines on the brow.

When they begin to appear take more rest. Plenty of

THE DREAD SIGNS OF OLD AGE

259

sleep is the greatest ironer out of wrinkles. Correct the bad
habits that have caused them. Live simply. Nothing
brings wrinkles sooner than dissipation and late hours.

When small, fine lines begin to appear, putting cold cream
well into the affected area should help to drive them away.
Ironing that portion of the face with small lumps of ice
covered with cotton or gauze is a good remedy if you per-
sist in it.

A method in general use in the beauty parlors of Paris,
and that has been introduced recently in this country, is to
spray the wrinkle area with cool or cold water. If you
have not a wrinkle spray, a large perfume atomizer will
serve the same end.

When your skin seems loose and inclined to form into
folds use one of the following remedies :

Dip a bit of absorbent cotton into glycerine and pat it
well into the wrinkle bed. Or apply cologne water in the
same way. In a short time you can decide which is the
better adapted to your skin. Glycerine, while a food and
stimulant to some skins, is an irritant to others.

A nightly bath of the face in buttermilk sometimes tight-
ens up the loosened skin.

This is a method much in use in Paris and Rome. Hun-
dreds of years old, traced even to the time of Cleopatra, it
is still effective, it is claimed, in keeping the countenance
smooth and youthful. Heat a shovel red hot in the fire.
Throw upon it when so heated a handful of powdered
myrrh. Bend the face over it to receive the fumes, such
fumes as can penetrate the napkin that has been spread
over the face. Do this two or three times at the same treat-
ment. Heating the shovel once more, pour white wine over
it and, still through the moistened napkin which protects
the face from the heat of the fire, receive the fumes in the
face. A fortnight of two such treatments given daily is
the recipe a woman whose face is smooth as a girl’s, though

260 MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

this famous Parisienne is now sixty, gave me for my Ameri-
can readers.

A simpler remedy is to boil a small handful of pearl
barley in half a pint of water until it is thoroughly cooked.
Add a half dozen drops of mecca balsam. Place in a stone
bottle and shake thoroughly before using. Bathe the face
in this once a day.

These astringent lotions may also be applied with benefit :

Water, i quart; pearl barley, 2 handfuls. Boil until the
barley grains are soft. Strain the liquor and add 50 drops
of tincture of benzoin.

Wash the face, if possible, a dozen times a day with this :

Oil of rosemary, J4 ounce; oil of lavender, 2 drams;
tincture of tolu, 4 drams ; rosewater, 1 pint ; rectified spirits
of wine, 1 y2 pints; oil of petit grain, 30 drops.

Believe me, if the spirit remains young, the flesh will age
but slowly. Contrive to keep interested in persons and
conditions and circumstances. Don’t let yourself be bored.
Flee from bores or drive them from you.

When you are uninterested, your face grows heavy and
opaque. It loses its reflective power, that mirror-like qual-
ity which is its chief charm. One of the wisest and most
enchanting women I ever knew — truly a woman irresisti-
ble— told me she would never allow any one to see her in
any but her sunniest mood.

“ Meeting people is making pictures of one’s self,” she
said. “ Memory pictures that remain long, perhaps for-
ever, in their minds. It is difficult, sometimes impossible,
to remove that memory picture. They may see us in other
moods and phases, but the ugly picture persists. If I am
in an unbecoming mood, I hide until it is past, as I would
hide did I suffer from an infectious disease.”

That is true philosophy of charm. Be interested, be
cheerful, be at your best when you are in public. If you
cannot be these, hide from the sight of men and women

THE DREAD SIGNS OF OLD AGE.

261

until the eclipse of your charming self has passed. If you
are a business and professional woman and cannot do so,
at least hide the mood beneath an impassive face and behind
the screen of a silent tongue.

Two extreme evidences of the approach of age are cer-
tain conditions of the head and feet. Don’t let the lower
part of your face grow heavy. That adds to the appear-
ance of age. “ Jowl-like ” cheeks and a loose-hanging chin
add years to apparent age. Prevent that defect, or, if it
has appeared, correct it by great care.

Be vigilant as a worthy policeman. Be on the alert. Say
to yourself, “ Am I holding my head high ? Am I giving
the muscles of my chin exercise to keep them firm, or am
I allowing the flesh to accumulate and form a bag about
it?”

As many times a day as you can, and at least every morn-
ing and evening, give the neck and chin their stretching
exercises. Raise the chin and let the head fall back upon
the shoulders. Let it rest as far back as possible, and with
the tips of the fingers press gently upward the muscles at
the sides of the neck. Persuade those muscles. Train
them. In time they will respond to the education you are
giving them and grow firmer.

If, at the same time, you iron the falling muscles of the
chin and neck with a piece of ice the process of rebuilding
the lower part of the face will be quicker. But I have
found very effective retiring with a piece of soft cloth,
saturated in witch hazel, pressed about my neck. Witch
hazel is an astringent and will draw the flaccid skin tighter.

No matter how tired you are, don’t allow yourself to
look tired. The tired lines and slipping downward muscles
add greatly to your appearance of age. Control them. It
can be done by an exercise of the will. Smile. Most
women look better when smiling, and all, who have well
kept teeth, look younger.

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

I said you must look to your feet. That is true. If you
have worn shoes that give you a silly, mincing gait, buy
larger ones and acquire a free, natural, springing walk.
Don’t drag your feet about as though they and your body
had a weight you could scarcely bear. Lift your feet and
walk with the fine spring and swing of youth. This, too,
is a habit that can be formed even at an advanced age.
Perhaps you have had the slow, heavy step of age from
your childhood. Then it is high time to change it — if you
would be young.

Study the faces about you and you will see that some of
them are firm muscled, full and of even contour. In others
you see that the muscles are sagging, slipping from place.
The face is growing heavier about the chin and there is a
drawn, strained look of the muscles about the eyes and tem-
ples. These are the fallen faces.

If you see that the muscles of your face are beginning to
slip downward lose no time in counteracting this tendency
to make the visage look older and heavier. Had I my
choice between wrinkles and the regrettable fallen face I
should choose the wrinkles as less ageing in appearance and
more likely to be remedied.

First, reform your habits of sleeping. The posture in
which we sleep determines into what lines the face and
body fall for eight or nine hours of each twenty-four — a
third or more of our time. If correct habits are formed
for that time there is an admirable start on the road to better
looks.

Notice how your head rests as you fall asleep. Perhaps
it is bent far forward. In that case the facial muscles are
relaxed and their tendency is to slip downward, tugging
their weight, especially that of the large chin and cheek
muscles, drawing them down throughout the night. All
muscles relax while we are asleep. That is the reason why,
on rising in the morning, the face looks heavy and “ pudgy.”

THE DREAD SIGNS OF OLD AGE 263

The muscles do not recover their tone until the habits of
the day reassert themselves.

With this knowledge you should be willing to make spe-
cial effort and endure some inconvenience to prevent this
slipping of the facial muscles at night. Toss away your
pillow, or, if you are exceedingly uncomfortable without
one, if the blood rushes to the head and causes you to be
sleepless, use a small, flat pillow, or better still, slip such
a pillow beneath the head of the mattress so that your body
will rest at a slight incline, and the hair and scalp will be
spared the heating of the pillow. Lie upon your back. In
this posture your chin will be thrust upward and the muscles
will be at tension. If you sleep thus the facial muscles will
not sag during the night hours.

Study your habits during the day and correct such habits
as cause a falling of the facial muscles. Perhaps you bend
your head unnecessarily low over your work. If so avoid
this. At any rate, give the chin muscles the opposite exer-
cise by bending the head backward upon the shoulders many
times a day.

Perhaps you have formed the habit picturesquely de-
scribed as “ walking into your chest.” This is an unbe-
coming mannerism of many women. Shyness or self-con-
sciousness or listlessness may be the cause in some instances.
In others it is sheer bodily laziness. Don’t let your chin
sink upon your chest when you talk, nor at any other time.
It makes a very unpleasant impression upon the hearer.
It gives him the idea that you are secretive or deceitful.
Lift your head when you talk, and look into the face of the
person you are addressing. He or she will admire you
more. Besides it is another means of preventing the slip-
ping of the facial muscles, of keeping your face from fall-
ing.

We go back to nature for inspiration for beauty. Some
of the most graceful of the modern dancers are self-taught

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and nature-taught, taking for models of grace the swaying
of the tree boughs and the lilt of flowers in a wind. So
we can go back to nature for models in the poise of the
head. Take for an example, not some tired dray horse
who lets his discouraged muscles sink beneath his forelegs,
but the inquisitive bird, with head uplifted and upturned
eyes seeking to solve the mystery of the trees.

Coax the muscles of the chin and neck into obedience.
Beginning at the point where the muscles of the neck meet
those of the shoulders, press firmly with the fingers of both
hands, moving the hands upward to the muscles of the
lower jaw and continuing the pressure on the muscles be-
hind the ears.

Is your neck beginning to look old ? Is the skin growing
flabby? Are the muscles sagging? Is the skin looking yel-
low ? Is it no longer a source of pride and pleasure to wear
a V-shaped or low cut gown ?'

Do not despair, for the ageing neck is not an infallible
sign of growing old.^ It is only one of them. And you
have my assurance that you can make it look youthful
again. For proof of this let me point you to the great
singing teachers, yes, and the great singers who are their
pupils. Almost every one of them — indeed, I can think of
no exception — has a round, white, youthful-looking throat.
One of the most beautiful necks I ever saw, white, strong,
girlish, was that of the celebrated vocal teacher, Mme. Mar-
chesi, when she was seventy.

But while this is true, it is also true that you should begin
giving the neck special attention before you are thirty. It
were better if you began when you were twenty-five.

First, look to its careful feeding. Give it at least one
good meal a day by rubbing cold cream liberally into the
front of the neck at night before retiring.

Look very carefully to the poise of the head. If the
head be held proudly, the chin up, the muscles of the neck

THE DREAD SIGNS OF OLD AGE 265

will also be held firm. But if you permit the head to droop
the neck muscles share the sagging.

Never lie with the head high. One small pillow is enough
for anyone, except the insomniac. If you can dispense
with the small, flat pillow and lie with the head and feet on
a level, so much the better for the neck.

The neck thus trained, and with the additional training
of deep breathing, learned by vocal lessons, should never
grow old. I advise every woman to take vocal culture for
herself, even though she have no liking for music, simply
for the sake of the beauty of her neck. The most beautiful
necks in the world are those of singers.

But if these preventive measures have been neglected
and the neck is losing its roundness and its firm aspect, have
recourse to that great body builder, massage. There is spe-
cial massage for the neck, and it must be intelligently given.

First strengthen the chin muscles by pressing firmly upon
them with the backs of the hands. Turn the hands, with
the backs upward, and letting the finger tips meet beneath
the middle of the chin. Press with all your strength on
the muscles of the chin, working backward and upward be-
hind the ears to the hair line.

Second. With the tips of the fingers quite meeting at
the point of the collar bone in front, draw the hands with
long, slow strokes upward to a point beneath the ears. This
is a good muscle building movement.

Third. Slap the neck smartly with the palms.

Fourth. “ Lift ” the tendons at the side of the neck that
are inclined to grow more prominent and ropey each year.
This lifting consists in seizing the tendons in a firm grasp
and seeming to raise them to meet the head. This is pain-
ful, and may even cause a slight headache at first, but these
are only Nature’s protests against the unaccustomed. Even
Nature is an old fogey about innovations.

Fifth. Grasp the large muscles at the back of the neck

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

and connecting the shoulders, and “ lift ” these also. Raise
them as though it were your purpose to place them in the
curve of the neck. This should be followed by a vigorous
kneading of the muscles.

The aim of all these massage movements is to promote
circulation in the neck. The yellowish, withered-looking
skin denotes that the blood flows weakly in that part of the
body. The flabby muscles indicate that the muscles have
not been well exercised. A good developing exercise for
the neck is to let the head lie back as far as possible on the
shoulders, then roll slowly from one shoulder to the other.

The hands should be immersed in nourishing cold cream
before “ feeding ” the throat muscles. This is a formula
for a nutritious cream:

Almond oil, ounces ; lanolin, y2 ounce ; spermaceti,
y2 ounce; witch hazel, 34 ounce; tincture of benzoin, *4
dram.

Ninon de L’Enclos, one of the greatest beauties of French
history, had a beautiful neck, and to her is accredited the
use of this neck food:

Rosewater, 8 ounces; almond oil, 8 ounces; tincture of
benzoin, 34 ounce ; attar of rose, 5 drops.

This will be quite as efficacious and much less expensive
without the attar of rose.

The following nourishes and whitens the skin of the
neck :

Honey, I tablespoonful; lemon juice, 1 teaspoonful;
whites of two eggs; enough bran or almond meal to make
a fine paste.

This wash is also a good neck bleach, particularly useful
in removing the dark stains or rings caused by wearing
the prevalent gilt and silver trimmings about the throat:

Hydrochloric acid, *4 ounce; water, 5 ounces.

Avoid high, tight collars. Wear soft white silk and mus-
lin linings next the throat for colored collars. If it is

THE DREAD SIGNS OF OLD AGE 267

necessary to wear costumes with high collars on the street,
change them at once for collarless gowns when you are at
home. If you wear chains or dog collars about the neck
let them be loose.

A famous theatrical manager whose duty it had been to
select thousands of beauties for the choruses of his produc-
tions, and who was a celebrated connoisseur of feminine
beauty said that a neck to be beautiful must look as though
it “ belonged ” to the body, that is, to use theatrical par-
lance, it must “ be in the picture.’’ A long neck on a short
woman is absurd, and a short neck on a tall woman makes
her look like a freak of nature. If a girl is slender her
neck should be slim, but she should take measures to pre-
vent its being “ scrawny.” If a neck is full and round, to
correspond with the body of the owner, it is as nature de-
signed it to be. A full, well rounded neck is not only
beautiful in itself, but it is a sign of abundant vitality.
The same theatrical manager I have before quoted said he
cared not how thin a neck was if it matched the body and
was well “ covered.” He meant if the outlines of the bones
and sinews were well hidden by a delicate covering of flesh.
Usually if the neck is very thin the entire body is also, and
measures should be taken to upbuild the constitution. Eat-
ing nourishing food, breathing deeply and giving the body
plenty of rest, should fill out the hollows in the neck as well
as the body.

This process can be hastened by patting into it nightly
an emollient made of equal parts of almond oil and vase-
line. Also the neck muscles can be strengthened by plac-
ing upon the head now and then a moderate weight, as a
book, and walking slowly about the room, balancing the
book by so steadying the head that the book will not fall.
If the neck be disproportionately fat gentle pinching be-
tween the thumb and first three fingers should reduce its
bulk.

CHAPTER XIX

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR CHILDREN TO BE BEAUTIFUL

IT is possible to train a child to beauty and this training
consists of two means. One is to teach the little one
habits of personal daintiness. The other is to impress upon
him or her while very young, the principles of health.

A third is to correct any defects by early attention to
them on your own part if you are parent, guardian or
teacher.

For instance there is the child whose beauty may be
marred by outstanding ears. The ears can be pressed back
against the head by a compress made at home and worn at
night. A bandage easily made in the house consists of
a long, folded strip of strong muslin, twisted first around
the head beneath the chin, then around the neck, then over
the crown of the head, the ends of the strips of muslin
being drawn rather tightly over the ears and fastened to
one of the lengthwise strips by safety pins.

If you find the child often breathing with difficulty he
probably suffers from that growth at the back of the nostrils
called adenoids. Take him to a physician and have them
removed, so preventing a long train of disasters, mental
and physical, whose signs are that strained, drooping coun-
tenance we know as an adenoid face. Don’t let any char-
latan try to convince you that they can be cured in any
other way. The single way to remove adenoids is by a
surgical operation.

Look to the fact that the child’s teeth have a good start.
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TRAIN CHILDREN TO BE BEAUTIFUL 269

A little watchfulness will cause the first set to be drawn in
good time for the second to come in straight and strong.
Then teach the little one to take pride in their whiteness.
Furnish a pure, fresh powder or paste, or let her use a
powder for one cleansing and a paste for the next, and so
on, alternating. Teach her to brush the teeth up and down,
not across, and to brush them inside as well as out, and
along the crowns. Help her to form the habit of always
rinsing her mouth with warm water, or with warm salt
water, if there be an acid tendency of the mouth, after each
meal. Teach her that the mouth must always be rinsed
with water into which a pinch of borax or of bicarbonate
of soda has been dropped, after eating either fruits, which
are acid, or candy, which soon resolves itself into acids.

Teach her that it is as necessary to be pure of mouth as
of speech. Train her to be proud of clean nails and to be
ashamed of gray or black rimmed ones. Teach her early
to trim her nails and to keep them spotless, and keep the
cuticle pressed back from them. Teach them that soiled
hands are a disgrace to a little girl and offensive in a little
boy.

Appealing to the pardonable vanity that is in little chil-
dren, teach all that much of the expression of the face
depends upon the arch and smoothness of the eyebrows, and
show them how to train them by twice daily brushings.

Teach her to watch the dainty movements of her pet
canary and her favorite kitten and emulate their table man-
ners. Birds handle their food delicately, and kittens seldom
fill their mouths overfull. The little girl will want to be
as fine as her pets, and unconsciously will develop pretty
table manners.

Teach him not to be afraid of fresh air. Teach him the
contrary by telling him the story of “ The Black Hole of
Calcutta ” and of the beautiful boy who was gilded to head
a orocession and who died after his brief glory because his

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pores had been closed by the gaudy stuff with wdiich he
was bedecked. Bogie stories are permissible if they
frighten children into care of their health by leaving their
windows open two or three inches at night and by wearing
their clothes loose.

Don’t let the children in your charge study to the point of
eyestrain. Teach them to use the ears to save the eyes.
Let them learn by listening. It was prophesied by a writer
on health that in time the phonograph that now grinds out
rag time airs to the lessening of the standard of popular
taste will have records which tell the classic short stories
of biography, fiction and history. Don’t allow a child to
overstudy. Better a well-developed, rosy-cheeked little
one who knows no Latin nor higher mathematics than a
squinty, anaemic who knows both, but who doesn’t know
the way in the woods to the woodchuck’s hole nor how to
defend himself in a schoolboy fight.

Teach them to love the life in the open. If you live all
year in the crowded city, the roofs, at least, are available
to you. And in some part of your home, even though
small, you can put up a crude gymnasium. For instance,
a horizontal bar, with a mattress drawn under it for pre-
caution, will give the little ones great fun, besides being a
developing agent.

Break the children’s unpleasant facial habits in the form-
ing. Show a little girl how ugly and old she looks by
flashing a mirror before her eyes while she is frowning.
Show her that the frown of concentration is as ugly as the
frown of anger and train her to solve a problem with smooth
brows. If she twists her mouth unpleasantly when she
talks, tell her of it, and if that doesn’t cure her, call the
mirror to your aid.

CHAPTER XX

ADVICE TO BLONDES AND BRUNETTES

SIX subjects are of special consideration to the blonde.

She must remember that her type has the most delicate
of complexions. To accentuate her blondness she should
keep her hair as light as possible. She should eat such food
as will enrich her golden coloring. She should avoid what-
ever tends to the accumulation of fat. She should guard
against the faded appearance that comes early to most
blondes. She should dress to emphasize her golden color-
ing.

While it is true that woman’s hair is her crowning glory,
a blonde’s hair is her aureole, her halo of beauty.

Half the time and attention she gives to her toilet should
be given to her hair. The blonde’s hair, as a rule, has a
golden tint. This tint is the keynote of her beauty, and
should be enhanced in every possible way.

She may wash her hair as often as she likes with no fear
of its fading. The lighter it becomes the better. For her
there need be no fear of using carefully those aids in cleans-
ing the hair, ammonia, borax or washing soda. Each of
these, if used often, tends to make the hair several shades
lighter — but in too large quantities it will make the hair
brittle.

Because it does not matter how light her hair becomes,
the blonde may wash her hair oftener than the brunette
does. A shampoo in borax water once or twice a week soon
lightens the hair. One tablespoonful of borax in a gallon
of water is sufficient.

271

272

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

Two shampoos a week in water in which ammonia has
been sprinkled soon brings about a lightening of the hair.
One gallon of water and half a wineglass of ammonia is
a good proportion.

Two shampoos a week in a gallon of warm water with a
heaping tablespoonful of washing soda in it is the speediest
agent I know for lightening the hair, excepting peroxide,
which some blondes who do not wish to actually bleach
their hair use in small proportions in the shampoo. One
tablespoonful of peroxide of hydrogen in a gallon of water
is the usual proportion.

Every one expects light hair to be fluffy. Flufflness is
the accompaniment of goldenness in hair, and the observer
of beauty is always disappointed if he sees fair hair smooth.
Smoothness seems to belong rather to dark hair. The
blonde should so comb and brush her hair that each hair
is distinct and separate from the others. This gives an
aureole-like effect to her face, and wonderfully softens her
features.

The blonde knows that fair hair is expected to be fluffy.
If it isn't she can make it so by drawing it into a loose mass
after a shampoo and tying it with a ribbon, letting it dry
thus. If the hair is long it can be tied again by another
ribbon close to the ends, making it curve or wave.

The blonde’s skin being finer and more delicate has a
greater tendency to wrinkle. Wrinkles come early to her
because her skin is so delicate. It is like rice paper, form-
ing fine surface wrinkles as well as deeper ones. For this
reason her motto should be “ Oil, oil, oil.”

The blonde’s complexion is comparable to that of a rose.
It has a superb bloom, but fades early. The withered rose
petal is one of the most pathetic sights in nature. It is a
danger signal to the blonde, saying sadly to her, “ Guard
well your complexion ! ”

The blonde should remember that the dry skin is the fore-

ADVICE TO BLONDES AND BRUNETTES 273

runner of wrinkles, and literally keep her skin well oiled.
Occasionally a blonde, if stout, is troubled by a greasy skin.
This old cosmetic has corrected that fault:

Sulphate of zinc, 2 grains ; compound tincture of laven-
der, 8 minims; distilled water, 1 ounce.

This cream is of the soft sort that is especially adapted
to a blonde’s delicate complexion :

Oil of sweet almonds, 34 ounce ; olive oil, 34 ounce ; oil
of poppies, y2 ounce ; white wax, ^2 ounce ; spermaceti, 34
ounce. First melt the white wax over a slow fire, pour in
the other ingredients, and stir briskly until they cool and
reach a cream-like consistency.

For a skin that is chronically dry, I recommend the use
of almond meal instead of soap. It is not only cleansing,
but injects into the pores the needed oil. I also advise fre-
quent use of this :

Almond oil, 2 ounces; extract of Italian pink, 12 drops.

Many blondes when they are young are afflicted with un-
becoming flushing of the skin. Sunburn and wind rough-
ening are an affliction to the owners of such complexions.
For these the compounds containing a generous amount of
honey are healing and soothing. The following I have al-
ways heard recommended as efficacious by many blonde
friends :

Honey, 1 ounce ; almond oil, 1 ounce ; white wax, 1 ounce ;
spennaceti, 1 ounce.

Now and then a complexion rebels against glycerine.
This is more liable to be true of blondes, although I recall at
this moment six at least who use the following to tone
down the redness when their skin has been irritated :

Camphor water, 1 pint; glycerine, 34 ounce; powdered
borax, 34 ounce.

As her skin is more delicate, so the facial massage should
be lighter than that given the brunette. It should indeed be
the new massage, the patting, the raindrop sort of treat-

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

ment, instead of the severe treatment of the old regime.

Always with a view to keeping and enhancing the golden
tints in hair and skin, the blonde should be careful to eat
such food as will feed the pigment that produces the wheat-
like hair and apple blossom skin.

I have before spoken of Mme. de Crequy, the French
beauty, who was in many respects a model to the other
beauties of the court of France. Her biographers said that
Mme. de Crequy had the loveliest complexion ever granted
to woman. They said in the next line that she ate every
day thirty oranges and almost nothing else.

The orange is the best friend of the complexion among
the fruits. It clears the complexion marvelously, but it has
besides the property of holding much of the golden shade in
solution. A blonde whom I know tried the experiment of
eating a half dozen oranges a day and increasing the num-
ber to a dozen daily for three months. In that time the
change in her coloring was marvelously for the better.
Her hair, which had been a shade too pale, took on the rich
yellow of cornsilk.

When she had quite convinced herself of the fact
that oranges are the food of beauty, and especially of
blonde beauty, she was advised also to eat many carrots.
This she did in connection with the oranges for six months.
She ate carrots sliced and stewed in cream. She ate them
in soup. She ate them mashed and seasoned slightly with
salt and pepper. She even ate them baked. This she
began doing in the early summer. By the same time the
next year her hair had deepened three shades and was far
richer. And her complexion was fresher, fairer and it
harmonized more perfectly with the golden lights in her
hair.

The blonde, as a rule, must fight the tendency to accumu-
late flesh. The man who first wrote “ fair, fat and forty ”
was observant. He had registered the conclusion that the

ADVICE TO BLONDES AND BRUNETTES 275

woman who is fair is at forty more than likely to be fat.
And so she is. Recognizing this tendency of the placid
nature, which is usually an accompaniment of fair face and
hair, the blonde should begin to combat it at twenty. Better
at eighteen.

She can prevent her waist and hips growing larger by
deep massage. The Japanese women never grow fat. Ask
them why and they show you how they pinch their hips to
crush the tissues and keep the hips flat.

Your funny American dance, the cakewalk, is a great hip-
reducer. That backward motion, with the face turned up-
ward and the feet lifted prancingly, draws the tendons,
solidifies the muscles and makes the limbs compact.

To reduce the hips, with hands on hips bend forward,
swaying the upper body in a half-circle on a horizontal
plane.

Stand erect and try to make the elbows meet in the back.
This is an excellent exercise to remove the superfluous fat
or to prevent superfluous fat forming upon the back.

To make the waist small and pliant stretch the arms high
above the head and bend them forward, describing a quarter
circle.

To reduce the abdomen, bend forward until the palms
touch the floor.

To avoid growing stoutness lie upon the back and raise
the body slowly to a sitting posture without bending the
knees.

These exercises alone, begun early and persisted in, will
keep back the tide of fat that comes with the years to most
blondes.

She should guard, I have said, against the early fading
that is the blighting tendency of her type. It is nature’s
compensation, a revenge nature seems to work at the behest
of the jealous brunettes, that the blonde who was so ex-
quisite in youth should early lose the delicacy of her skin

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

276

and the brilliancy of her hair. But some blondes have pre-
vented this early fading, and what some blondes have done
other blondes may do. The cure in this instance is the pre-
ventive. The delicate skin that has been well fed will not
grow dry and wrinkled early. The blonde who has made
carrots and oranges her chief articles of diet for many
years, supplying the iron needed to replenish the rich gold
of her hair, will not early lose the luster of that hair.

The blonde’s critics say that she should wear gown, hat,
shoes and gloves to match, but that she should wear only
one color. Perhaps this is untrue, but I have noticed that
many of them are disposed to heap color upon color upon
their costumes. Violet and green and mauve and black I
have seen in one combination. The blonde who wore it
looked cheap and common, and the glory of her hair was
dulled by it. Had she worn any one of the colors alone,
been a symphony in violet, in mauve, in green or in gold,
she would have been ravishing. And the splendor of her
hair would have been a glory in burnished gold. But she
diffused her color effects by her strange costume. Blondes
should always dress for their hair.

A rude bachelor said that “ blonde ” had come to be a
term of contempt because there were so few natural ones.
Scientists, too, say that her type is decadent and will in the
course of a few hundred centuries disappear. But the
blonde can enjoy herself for many generations before that
happens. And she may remember that the blonde races
have been the world rulers for many years.

The history of the evolution of the blonde shows that her
origin was in the north, but that she emigrated to the south
and ruled the brunette natives. Science gravely informs us
that the blonde flourishes in the moistest climates. This
great racial fact may be applied to individual cases. Cer-
tainly the blonde who wants to cherish her golden hair and
fair skin should not turn inland, but to the seashore.

ADVICE TO BLONDES AND BRUNETTES 277

If you are a brunette your glory is your eyes, your men-
ace is your liver, your besetting fault is a lack of cheerful-
ness.

As to your eyes first. Their color is in itself a guarantee
of beauty. There is no shade of brown eyes that is not
beautiful, beginning with the golden brown eyes, which
the novelists delight to describe as tawny but which I have
named tiger color, through the red brown shades — that to
some imaginative ones suggest cruelty, to myself the brown-
ish red shades of claret — to the so-called “ black ” eyes,
which are indeed not black, for there are no genuinely black
eyes. Place a bit of black velvet beside the darkest eyes you
ever saw and note how brown the eyes look beside them.

They run the gamut of beauty. Brown eyes, the shade
of the tobacco leaf, Fierenzuola, the Florentine authority
on beauty, said are the loveliest eyes in the world. Cer-
tainly they are the eyes of sentiment, and sentiment is ac-
cepted even in America, though it has not here the impor-
tance in individual and national life that it has in Europe.

I have read somewhere that brown eyes ask for love and
get it. The eyes of the brunette should shine starlike out of
a creamy white face as stars peep through the breaks in a
cloud.

The eyes being her glory, the wise brunette takes the best
possible care of them. To care well for them she should
care well for their surroundings. Eyes are of diminished
loveliness indeed if the eyelashes and eyebrows be ill kept.
The eyelashes should be thick and soft as silk. They should
be long and their loveliness is still greater if they happen
to be curly. To keep them in best condition there should
be no eyestrain. Reading by a bad light, reading on a mov-
ing vehicle, reading in bed, looking at too great distances,
or looking too continuously at too bright objects in the sun-
light— as at an unshaded lake at high noon or a bit of
glass in a high light, continuing at any task after the mus-

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

cles of the eyes ache, cause eyestrain, and eyestrain causes
inflammation of the eye itself, of the linings of the eyelids
and of the rims of the eyelids.

Whatever inflames the lining of the eyes inflames the
edges of the lids, and from inflamed eyelids the eyelashes
fall with alarming swiftness.

Trimming the ends of the eyelashes once in six weeks I
find makes them grow longer and thicker. I always have
this done by a young person, because a young person’s hand
is firmer, and there must be no trembling of the hand that
works in the region of the sensitive eye. Use one of the
tiny brushes made for eyebrows and eyelashes. Use it
every morning and evening. Brush the eyelashes lightly
with a downward stroke to make them long, upward to
make them curly. Both serve the chief purpose in the cul-
ture of eyelashes, which is to keep them clean. You are
most careful to keep your velvet gown free from dust. Be
careful also of your eyelashes, which are more vitally im-
portant to your beauty.

For bathing the eyes to relieve them of inflammation and
so to strengthen the eyelashes use this preparation :

Distilled water, 1 pint ; cornflowers, 30 grams. Crush the
cornflowers in a mortar. Steep them in the water for a
day — that is, for twenty-four hours. Strain the liquor
through a piece of fine cloth, such as cheesecloth. Heat in
a porcelain pan over a moderate fire. Cool and tightly
cork. Bathe the eyes night and morning from an eyecup
or with an eyedropper.

Spanish women whose eyelashes have faded often apply
this mixture to make them darker:

Water, 300 grams; sulphate of iron, 10 grams; gall nuts,
50 grams.

Boil the nuts in the water for a half hour. Strain
through cheesecloth or muslin. Add the sulphate of iron.
Boil again until the quantity of the liquor is reduced one

ADVICE TO BLONDES AND BRUNETTES 279

third. Apply at the root of the eyelashes, being careful not
to let any of the mixture touch the eye. The best means
of applying it is with a sable pencil. This formula may also
be used for the eyebrows.

Brush the eyebrows night and morning, training them to
a high arch. The expression of the face is more piquant
if the eyebrows be high.

The brunette, even more than the blonde, should develop
by every proper means the brilliancy of her eyes, for while
the brunette’s chief glory is her eyes, that of the blonde is
her hair.

She should, besides taking all the rest she needs — even
more than she needs so that she will be sure to have enough
— use many cooling lotions. The boracic acid water which
I have recommended for the blonde I forbid to the brunette,
because it often leaves a sediment which clings to the eye-
lashes and shows white as hoar frost on the black lashes of
the brunette. But for her there is the refreshing eyebath of
cool, weak tea, or of this, applied fairly warm :

Rose water, 1 gill ; witch hazel, 1 gill.

If the eyes ache persistently, retire to a dark room, lie
down and place upon the eyes some cool tea leaves, secured
there by the useful eye bandage or bandalette to which I
have referred in a previous chapter.

If crow’s-feet appear prematurely about her eyes she
should apply lanolin, patting it in thoroughly. Lanolin
is the base of most of the skin foods and has no equal, to
my present knowledge, as a builder of flesh tissues.

The blonde’s complexion fades early because her skin is
extraordinarily thin and fine. The brunette’s, as a rule, is
the reverse. A fine almond meal is a good substitute for
soap for the blonde’s complexion.

The brunette, because her skin is thicker, and has a ten-
dency to an oily appearance, could to her benefit use once
a day a toilet soap made as follows :

28o

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

White castile soap, 300 grams; spermaceti, 20 grams;
oxgall, 10 grams; honey, 20 grams; essence of rosemary,
10 grams; essential oil of oranges, 15 grams; oil of lemon,
20 grams; alcohol, 15 grams; attar of roses, 2 drops.

Melt the spermaceti and the shaven soap in a bain marie.
Add the other ingredients one by one, mixing thoroughly
after each addition. Pour into molds.

If the brunette finds that the pure, cold creams contain so
much oil and lanolin that they encourage the natural oil in
her skin, she can feed her skin with slighter nourishment, as
for instance some of the cucumber lotions that have from
time to time appeared in the articles I have written. This
can be prepared at home. Wash and wipe carefully six
large cucumbers; leave the rind on and cut the cucumber
into inch square cubes. Fill one saucepan with water, and
into a small one place twelve ounces of almond oil. Drop
the pieces of cucumber into the oil and heat until they reach
the boiling point. When it has reached that point put it
at the back of the stove and let it simmer for three or four
hours. Strain through cheesecloth, crushing out of the cu-
cumbers as much juice as possible. Stir in while it cools
four ounces of benzoin. Keep the liquid in a jar in a cool
place.

I had not thought there was a brunette who did not know
that when she dabs powder on her face in the evening she
should choose not white but Rachel, the brunette shade
which has a tint of yellow in it. But I have seen brunettes
go forth to conquest with their face so white as to make
them seem ghastly and repulsive.

Some of my blonde friends in Paris were washing their
hair every other week in light ale. They thought this was
a tonic for the scalp, and that it made the hair light. My
brunette friends, on the contrary, use diluted claret :

Claret, I pint; water, 1 pint.

They believe that this helps to keep their hair dark.

ADVICE TO BLONDES AND BRUNETTES 281

Prof. Jocquet, my hair specialist in Paris — and by the way
there is none better anywhere — cleansed my scalp last sum-
mer in lemon juice.

Juice of two lemons ; almond oil, 5 drops.

It is Prof. Jocquet’s interesting theory that oil applied
directly to the scalp causes the pores to open and disgorge
the hairs.

The brunette should look, for a model for her hair, to
the luster of black satin. It seems to be the scheme of
nature that the brunette should have straight, shiny hair,
as it is that the blonde should have crisp, curling hair.
Often individuals stray from this plan, but there is no
doubt that the plan exists.

I have said that the menace to her brunette beauty is the
liver. I repeat it. In the brunette there is always, as an
accompaniment of dark pigment, a torpidly inclined liver.
That lazy liver, if permitted, will make her complexion
muddy, her eyes dull, her movements sluggish. She must
stir up this languid organ, make it perform its functions.
As the blonde must fear an excess of fat, so the brunette
has reason to fear an excess of bile. She should eat such
juicy, acid fruit, as cherries, strawberries and grapes, and in
the water she drinks it is well to add the juice of half a
lemon to every glass of water.

The brunette should regard the lemon as her friend. It
is a tonic for her stomach and her scalp. Half a lemon
rubbed well upon the scalp cleanses it.

Her temperamental tendency is toward “the blues.” A
blonde is more sanguine than a brunette. The brunette will
correct her brown view of life by the same exercise and
diet that goads the liver into activity.

CHAPTER XXI

SURE AIDS TO BEAUTY

TO give all the beauty recipes I have tested and can
personally recommend would require three or four
volumes as large as this. There are many helpful ones
which I have been unable to find room for in the chapters
where they rightly belong. So I am going to group here
in this last chapter a number of “ Sure Aids to Beauty ”
which I feel confident every sensible woman will be glad to
know.

Among the recipes and bits of advice which I can least
afford to miss the opportunity of passing on to other women
are many which have to do with the hair. The woman
who wants to wear her hair parted, but finds this manner
unbecoming because the roots of the hair are darker than
the ends, will welcome this treatment:

Shampoo at least once a week. Use the juice of two
lemons in a quart of water for the shampoo. Occasionally
substitute for the lemon juice a tablespoonful of ammonia.
Rub this well into the roots when washing the hair.

The best way to make dead brown hair rich and glossy
is to upbuild one’s general health. The hair and teeth are
fairly safe barometers of the vitality. Abundant, glossy
hair is usually the index of perfect health. Take the tonics
of plenty of fresh air, of exercise out of doors, of simple,
nourishing food, and your hair will share your vigor.
Much brushing should make it more lustrous. To darken
it some brunettes wash it in this :

282

SURE AIDS TO BEAUTY

283

Claret, 1 quart ; sulphate of iron, ounce.

No one could ask for a more satisfactory shampoo than
the following: Water, one cupful; one egg; tincture of

green soap, 1 teaspoonful; cologne, I teaspoonful. Mix
thoroughly and rub well into the scalp.

A simple and harmless hair dye that has been vouched for
by honest folk is the water in which potato parings have
been boiled. Walnut stain, prepared in the same way, is
uninjurious. Experiment until you have secured the right
shade. But I would advise stimulating the hair by massag-
ing the scalp every day and by vigorous brushing.

To get rid of dandruff without making your hair either
oily or dry, first give the scalp frequent shampoos. Every
other day, or even daily, is not too often, for a week or two,
if the case be an obstinate one. After shampooing and on
other nights rub carefully into the scalp a tablespoon ful or
more of the following:

Bay rum, 2^ ounces; olive oil, J4 ounce; tincture of
cantharides, y2 ounce.

Sometimes after a serious illness like typhoid fever one’s
scalp becomes very dry. For such a condition massage well
into the roots every morning and evening the following:

Oil of sweet almonds, 45 grams ; essence of rosemary, 45
grams; oil of mace, 2 grams.

Brown hair that is becoming streaked with gray may be
darkened with henna water. One handful of henna to a
quart of water is the right proportion. Boil down until
there is only a pint of liquid.

The best method of shampooing the hair is, in my opinion,
to rub two or three handfuls, or as much as is needed,
through the hair and upon the scalp. Draw the long ends
of the hair together to the top of the scalp and lather well
about the neck. Massage the hair well with the soap.
Then pour upon the head pitcher after pitcher of warm
water, or play upon it with the bath spray. Gradually re-

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

duce the temperature of the water until it is cool, though
never cold. Cold water causes a shock to the scalp that is
detrimental to the nerves.

I have told of the simplest shampoo I know. For bru-
nettes who wish to preserve the glossy duskiness of their
hair, this is beneficial :

Rum or red wine, 1 wineglassful ; yolk of one egg.

There is no arbitrary usage in the matter of singeing the
ends of the hair. When the ends are split singe them.
There is no need at any other time. But I have noticed that
the need is liable to occur in my hair about once in two
months. The singeing should always precede the shampoo,
for the odor of burnt hair is not a desirable fragrance.

One word more concerning the hair. Be scrupulous
about your brushes. If necessary dip them into a bowlful
of lather made of white castile soap every day after the
morning brushing. A half dozen drops of ammonia in the
water will help to cleanse them. Rinse them thoroughly,
so that no particle of the soap remains.

I have said that the scalp must be kept cool. Brushing
helps to preserve this condition. I have known girls, who
came home tired after a day at business, to wrap a few bits
of ice in a towel and place it upon the flushed and burning
scalp, feverish from a day of intense mental activity. This
soon cools the scalp, relieves the congestion in the head and
sends the blood dashing back toward other centers. Mas-
sage also relieves the congestion.

Avoid a dry scalp as much as you do a hot one. Indeed,
the dryness is the eflfect of the heat. This can be corrected
by massage. Lotions containing oil are many. If the tri-
weekly massage fails to release the oil from the sebaceous
glands there may be a few applications of this :

Castor oil, 2 ounces; alcohol (95 per cent.), pints;
oil of bergamot, 10 drops.

If you insist on using a dye to hide the approaching gray

SURE AIDS TO BEAUTY 285

hairs, I recommend the time-honored walnut stain, made as
follows :

Walnut bark, 1 ounce; alum, y2 ounce; water, 1 pint.
Boil the bark in the water for an hour. Add the alum to
“ set ” the color. Apply the liquid with a sponge or bit of
cotton. Wrap an old veil about the head or wear a night
cap after the application, on retiring, else the stain will per-
form its functions on the bed linen as well as your hair.

I would much rather recommend your massaging the scalp
vigorously and using one of these applications to retard the
appearance of gray hair, for I believe in tonics, but not in
hair dyes :

Bay rum, 2 ounces; sulphur, y2, ounce. Wash the hair
and the roots in the liquid. Sulphur is a well known agent
in retarding grayness of hair.

Brown hair that is fading into gray is freshened by this
wash :

Claret, 3 ounces ; sulphate of iron, y2 dram. Let the iron
dissolve thoroughly in the wine. Wash the hair as fre-
quently as necessary in it.

Persian women who want black hair apply a paste of
henna to the hair, leaving it on a half hour or more. They
then wash this off and apply a paste of indigo, leaving it
on at least three times as long. When this is washed off
they oil the hair, usually with perfumed olive oil. A sim-
pler method is to mix three parts of indigo with one part of
henna, adding enough water to make a paste. The longer
it is on the hair the darker it grows.

Camphorated chalk is cleansing for the teeth and tonic
for the gums, but I do not advise using it too often. Once
a day, and that at night, is often enough to use tooth powder,
for there are few powders that do not more or less wear the
surface of the enamel, as constant grinding wears away
what is much harder than teeth, a stone. Powders are ob-
jectionable in one respect. If strong, they cause the lips to

286

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

pucker and dry unbecomingly. Instead of using powder so
often, rinse the mouth often with strong salt water, espe-
cially after a meal, and brush the teeth with a brush dipped
into salt water, or with water in which a pinch of bicarbon-
ate of soda has been dissolved.

When the teeth are in fairly good condition this simple
powder is sufficient:

Precipitated chalk, 5 ounces ; powdered orris root, 3
ounces ; camphor gum, 1 ounce.

This is a tonic to teeth and gums :

Magnesia, 2 ounces; powdered orris root, 1 ounce; bi-
carbonate of soda, ounce ; ground cloves, 5 drams ; green
anise seed powder, 5 drams; powdered charcoal, 4 drams.

This is one of the strongest of tooth powders and should
be used only occasionally and in extreme cases :

Precipitate of chalk, 3 ounces ; crushed cuttle fish bone, 3
ounces ; powdered orris root, 2 ounces ; myrrh, 2 ounces ;
burnt hartshorn, 2 ounces.

This is a remedy for receding gums, and for those that
are sensitive and addicted to bleeding :

Sugar of milk, 3 ounces ; tannic acid, 3 drams ; red lake,
1 dram ; oil of anise seed, 8 drops ; oil of mint, 8 drops ; oil
of neroli, 5 drops.

Salt water, strong and warm, is an excellent mouth bath.
So is bicarbonate of soda in a one part to three solution.
This is the famous Eau de Botot:

Alcohol, 1 24 quarts; anise seed, 100 grams; ground cin-
namon, 35 grams ; ground cloves, 32 grams ; essence of mint,
20 grams ; cochineal, 10 grams ; quinquina, 10 grams.

This is a mouth wash easily prepared at home:

Water (filtered if possible), 1 quart; alcohol, 1 pint;
salicylic acid, yy2 drams; oil of peppermint, 15 grains;
orange flower water, 15 grains.

This myrrh lotion is one of the best for the mouth :

Orange flower water, 5 ounces; tincture of myrrh, 3

SURE AIDS TO BEAUTY 287

grams; pulverized gum arabic, 2^4 drams; pulverized gum
mastic, 2 drams ; balsam of Peru, J4 dram.

A red spot on the white of the eye is a sign of inflamma-
tion and that indicates some strain of the eye. First re-
move the strain. Give the eyes all the rest possible. Sleep
more than usual. Give up sewing and reading for a time.
Take a midday nap if you can. If not close the eyes as
often as circumstances will permit for a few seconds at a
time. Keep them closed while on a train. Study how
to get the best light you can on your task. Avoid the direct
light upon the eye. Bathe the eyes with an eyecup in a
mixture of boric acid, 1 ounce ; rose water, 6 ounces.

Keep cool bandages as cold tea leaves or finely cracked
ice on the eyes. Rest, rest, rest, the eyes. If a few weeks
of this care does not clear the spot from the eye consult an
oculist for the trouble may be a deepseated one.

You cannot change the color of your eyes, but you can
accentuate their color by taking especial care of your eye-
brows and eyelashes, so that they will grow longer and
thicker and lend their shadows to the eyes. Brush them
every night and morning with an eyebrow brush to keep
them free from dust. The brush may be dipped into lano-
lin at night. There will be plenty of time for the lanolin
to be absorbed by the skin during the night.

Since I advise against hair dyes I can not conscientiously
advocate dyeing the eyebrows and eyelashes. To massage
lanolin into the eyebrows and touch the edges of the eye-
lids with the same may in time cause the growth of new
hair. As it comes in it may be a trifle darker. That is the
only experiment I advise.

Eyebrows that look uneven and “ scraggly ” should be
treated every night with an eyebrow brush dipped in this
mixture :

Olive oil, 1 ounce ; tincture of cantharides, y2 dram ; oil of
nutmeg, % ounce ; oil of rosemary, ounce.

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

If by any accident the lids have become granular, as may
have chanced to be the result of excessive golf, or excessive
automobiling, the wholesome girl does not permit the dis-
order to grow. She knows that rest is to some extent cor-
rective of the evil. If this does not quickly remove it I
advise seeing a physician at once. I cannot conscientiously
recommend any lotion for a disorder so serious and disfigur-
ing. A physician’s advice is necessary.

For heavy, flabby, soft eyelids, which will wrinkle early
into a prematurely aged appearance, the wholesome girl
seeks first the extra sleep and rest that are the greatest tis-
sue repairers. To gently assist nature in the work of re-
juvenation she may resort to this ointment:

Fresh lard, 150 grains; sulphate of potash of aluminum,
25 grains ; tannin, 10 grains ; borax, 20 grains.

If her eyes be inflamed and extra amount of rest does not
banish the unlovely condition she may supplement the rest
with this applied — from three to five drops — by an eye-
dropper :

Distilled water, 50 grams ; quince seed mucilage, 5 grams ;
water of cherry laurel, 3 grams ; borax, gram. This is
recommended to be used with three times the quantity of
water by the famous Dr. Vaucaire.

Another French remedy is this compound:

Distilled water, 1 pint; sulphate of zinc, 10 centigrams;
orris root powder, 1 gram.

If on awakening in the morning the wholesome girl, who
is also an intelligent girl, finds that her eyelashes are en-
crusted by secretions from the eyes, she will first soften
those encrustations by rosewater, if that be available. If
not, by warm, strong salt water, or by equal parts of witch
hazel and water. There are many ointments recommended
for such purposes. This is by Dr. Vaucaire, an acknowl-
edged authority on the care of beauty. It should be applied
after the lids and lashes have been washed in warm water.

SURE AIDS TO BEAUTY 289

Never attempt to remove the encrustations while dry or
the lashes will come with them :

Oxide of zinc, 10 centigrams ; oil of sweet almonds, 100
centigrams; subacetate of lead, 10 centigrams; vaseline, 10
grams ; tincture of benzoin, 12 drops.

While Dr. Vaucaire prescribed this ointment he preferred
to administer it himself, and he advised the greatest caution
about the application of it lest some part of it get into the eyes.
In this, as in other formulae of this nature, I urge my readers
to have the compounds prepared by the best pharmacists.

The eyebrows may be made thicker by massaging them
every night with finger tips that have been dipped into lano-
lin. It promotes their growth to brush them daily with an
eyebrow brush. This removes the dust that collects about
and chokes the roots of the hair. The growth of eyelashes
is stimulated by brushing them daily with an eyebrow brush
dipped into lanolin. Keep the eyes cool and clean by wash-
ing them morning and evening in an eye-cup filled with a
mild solution of boracic acid, a teaspoonful of the pulver-
ized boracic acid to a pint of water. Pour the boiling
water over the acid and strain it.

To make the eyelashes grow dip a soft brush or cloth
into lanolin and touch the edges of the lids with it. Repeat
this every night before retiring.

I am opposed to face steaming, except as a last resort,
when the pores are deeply clogged with dust. The evils of
face steaming are two. It causes the skin to relax, stretch
and become flabby and eventually to form wrinkles. And it
so relaxes the pores that some of them refuse to draw to-
gether again, leaving unsightly holes in the face. Apply
with a piece of medicated gauze the following :

Camphor water, J4 pint; glycerine, *4 ounce; borax, %
ounce.

For a face that is beginning to look heavy I advise exer-
cise out of doors and abstinence from rich foods. A chin

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

band of rubber or of strong muslin worn at night will help
to support the muscles, also prevent one of the habits which
produce sagging cheek muscles. Form the habit of holding
your head high, with chin a little uptilted. The application
of cloths wet in cold water makes the muscles firmer. Many
pat the face with ice. Others pass the ice over it with long
upward strokes from chin to forehead. The ice should be
wrapped in cotton or in a piece of muslin.

A red nose is caused usually by excessive use of alcohol
or by some form of indigestion or imperfect circulation.
Loosening your clothing wherever it is tight, whether it be
in collars, garters, belts, gloves or shoes. Eat plain foods,
little meat and many vegetables and salads and much fruit.
Drink water very freely.

You can often improve the shape of an ugly nose by gently
pulling it, beginning at the bridge, between the eyes, and
pressing the cushions of the thumb and first finger against
the sides of the nose and drawing them slowly, gently, but
with firm pressure, to the tip. Dip a soft complexion brush
into green soap, which you probably know is a liquid, and
scrub the parts affected by blackheads. The more obstinate
of them may have to be pressed gently out with the fingers
or a comedone extractor. Afterward apply cold cream to
heal the skin irritated by the treatment.

For an oily nose try dusting it with this powder :

Bicarbonate of soda, 2 ounces; pulverized orris root, 1
ounce ; pulverized spermaceti, 1 dram. Mix thoroughly and
keep in a dry place.

A sparing diet chiefly of fruit and liquids and copious
water drinking should soon clear the complexion. Alter-
nate applications of hot and cold cloths to the skin help to
clear it. A pinch of iodide of lime in a glass of water, in
daily doses, for a week, will aid in the body cleansing which
is necessary to banish the tendency to boils. A few Turkish
baths will aid the work.

SURE AIDS TO BEAUTY

291

For blackheads I sometimes recommend scrubbing the
affected parts with green soap, using a complexion brush.
When they have been softened, pressing out the blackheads
with the side of a needle that has been sterilized by passing
it through a flame or through boiling water, is the best and
simplest means. After pressing out the blackheads place
cold cream on the affected parts to heal the irritation.

I have known double chins to be removed by bandaging
them persistently in cloths wet in witchhazel, which is an
astringent. Also press the muscles upward from the side
of the face, using all the strength you can coax into your
hands.

Cocoa butter in itself does not cause the growth of hair,
but friction of rubbing any cream into the skin may cause
the growth of hair if one is inclined to such growth.

Lemon juice should remove tan. It is too strong to use
undiluted on the face. Use an equal quantity of water or
of rose water with it.

This is a good lotion for decreasing the size of open pores,
also for checking the greasiness of the face :

Rose water, 3 ounces; elder flower water, 1 ounce; tinc-
ture of benzoin, *4 ounce ; tannic acid, 5 grains.

All save oily faces are improved by the use of cold cream.
But I know no reason for using a cloth in applying it. The
cloth wastes the cream, and using it will probably cause the
face to wrinkle. Pat the cold cream into the face with your
palms or the cushions of your fingers.

There is no unfailing remedy for superfluous hair on the
face, for even electrolysis sometimes fails. Try various
remedies until the hair is killed. Tweezers often remove
the hair permanently. Try them first, pulling each hair out
gently, being sure first to sterilize the tweezers by passing
them through a flame or dipping them into boiling water.
After removing the hairs bathe the skin with witchhazel or
pat into it a soothing cold cream. Washing the skin re-

292

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

peatedly with equal parts of peroxide of hydrogen and water
weakens the hairs, as well as bleaches them, so that they will
be far less conspicuous than if dark.

I advise no woman to undertake increasing the size of the
bust without first consulting her physician. If he thinks it
wise apply with muslin cloths to the breast this lotion :
Lanolin, 50 grams; vaseline, 50 grams; tincture of ben-
zoin, 20 drops ; iodide of potassium, 3 grams.

Here is an excellent remedy for an oily skin, especially
on the nose, where such a condition often enlarges the pores.
It is a drying lotion which tends to draw the pores together
and is made like this :

Rose water, 6 ounces ; elderflower water, 2 ounces ; tinc-
ture of benzoin, y2 ounce; tannic acid, 10 grains.

Only extreme measures will relieve an aggravated case of
blackheads or acne. With a flesh brush dipped into a lather
made of warm water and white castile soap, rub the af-
flicted part of the face vigorously. If the ugly black specks
have not then become loosened it will be necessary to steam
them. Fill a bowl with hot water, press the face into the
bowl, just avoiding touching the face with the water, and
cover the head and bowl with a large thick towel, so that
the steam will not escape. This should be done for from
ten to twenty minutes. When this bath is finished the acne
will be so loosened that it will be possible to press the black-
heads out bit by bit, using a sterilized needle. Afterward
massage the part of the face treated with pure cold cream.
A famous French skin specialist recommends for acne :
Salicylic acid, 50 grams ; pure lard, 50 grams.

Women who fear to apply to their faces anything which
might grow hair may safely use the following cold cream:
Almond oil, 2 ounces ; rose water, 4 ounces ; spermaceti,
34 ounce; white wax, % ounce; tincture of benzoin, 2]/2
drams; elderflower water, 10 drops.

Cocoanut oil is a good substitute for the more expensive

SURE AIDS TO BEAUTY

293

cold creams. It both cleanses and feeds the skin. But be
sure the oil you buy is absolutely pure.

Unsightly, bristle-like hairs on the chin can often be re-
moved by massaging the skin around them with cold cream
or with olive oil. Then sterilize a pair of tweezers by hold-
ing them in boiling water or dipping them into peroxide of
hydrogen, and pull out the hairs one by one with short,
sharp jerks. Bathe the skin from which they have been
removed with peroxide or some healing lotion and anoint it
with cold cream to relieve the irritation.

If the flesh about your nails breaks and tears it is because
you have permitted it to get too hard. Press it back from
the nails after washing the hands. Meanwhile, rub cold
cream into the skin at the base of the nails before retiring;
or soak them in a bowl of olive oil daily until they become
soft.

For a scalp wash for summer I know nothing better nor
more grateful than this:

Steep a pound of rosemary twigs in boiling water. Let
them remain in the water for twelve hours. Strain the
liquor and add to it half an ounce of Jamaica rum.

This, my favorite hair tonic, has the approval of experts
in this country and in Europe:

Sulphate of quinine, 30 grains; tincture of cantharides,
1 ounce; glycerine, 1 ounce; powdered borax, 15 grains;
alcohol, 2 pints; water, 2 pints. Dissolve the quinine in
alcohol and the borax in water. Add the other ingredients.
Allow the mixture to stand for one week. Then filter
through paper.

In summer when too ardent attention from the sun
makes your skin coarse try wearing at night a face mask
coated with this honey paste:

Ground barley, 3 ounces; honey, 1 ounce; white of one
egg. Wash off in the morning with tepid rose water.

Disfiguring blotches sometimes appear on the forehead

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

without any apparent cause. I have known them to be re-
moved by applying the following mixture with a tiny
camel’s hair brush:

Glycerine, p2 ounce; rosemary water, ^4 ounce; carbolic
acid, 10 drops.

For a bust that is not firm, this preparation is sold in
France:

Oil of sweet almonds, 100 grams; white wax, 50 grams;
tincture of benzoin, 25 grams ; rosewater, 25 grams ; pulver-
ized tannin, 15 grams.

For enlarging an undeveloped or atrophied bust, Dr.
Vaucaire recommends a flesh-making diet. He forbids the
application of any pastes or lotions to the meager breasts,
but prescribes this internal remedy:

Liquid extract of galega (goat’s rue), 10 grams; laco
phosphate of lime, 10 grams; tincture of fennel, 10 grams;
simple syrup, 400 grams.

He advises two soupspoonfuls in water before each meal.

The drinking of malt extracts is recommended by some
specialists. Personally, I advise all exercises that develop
the chest for this purpose. One of the best is called “ ceil-
ing gazing.” With the head bent as far back as possible,
stare steadily at the ceiling, breathing deeply while counting
for each inhalation ten, for each holding of the air in the
lungs ten, and for each exhalation ten.

Bathing the face with a mild solution of borax and water
will help dry any superfluous oil. Relief for this unpleas-
ant condition will also be found in this lotion :

Sulphate of zinc, 2 grains ; distilled water, 1 ounce ; com-
pound tincture of lavender, 8 minims.

This or the lotion which follows should be applied after
bathing the face, and two or three times a day as convenient :

Camphor water, 1 pint ; pure glycerine, ounce ; borax,
J4 ounce.

Either cologne, alcohol, glycerine and water or tincture

SURE AIDS TO BEAUTY

295

of benzoin is a good astringent for aiding in the reduction
of a double chin. Or you might try for the same trouble
the following:

Vaseline, 100 grams; lanolin, 100 grams; iodide of potas-
sium, 6 grams ; tincture of benzoin, 1 ounce.

I advise feeding arms that are too thin with olive oil or
cocoa butter. Both of these are fattening agents. Patience
and thorough daily applications of one of these will greatly
improve the thin arms. But the patient should try exercise
also. Holding the arms straight out at the sides and mov-
ing them round and round in a circle is a good arm de-
veloper.

Any of the following creams are excellent for massage
purposes :

Oil of sweet almonds, 500 grams ; spermaceti, 500 grams ;
white wax, 100 grams ; rosewater, 50 grams.

This is especially good for the neck, hands and arms
which are to be uncovered that night :

Glycerine, 1 ounce; rosewater, 1 ounce; oxide of zinc,
1 ounce.

The old-fashioned Nadine cream has a strong claim upon
many beauties of many nations. It is made this way:

Lanolin, 4 ounces ; cocoa butter, 4 ounces ; glycerine,
4 ounces ; elderflower water, 3 ounces ; rosewater, 5 ounces.

This, valuable for its whitening as well as softening effect,
is of English origin:

Milk of white almonds, 3 ounces; strained honey, 2
ounces ; cold cream, 4 ounces ; orange flower water, 5
ounces.

From England, too, comes this recipe, which has been
adopted in slightly modified form by France :

Essence of cucumber, 2 ounces; juice of cucumbers, 2
ounces ; spermaceti, 1 ounce ; white wax, 1 ounce ; olive oil,
1 ounce; almond oil, 1 ounce.

This is a well-known and valuable massage cream :

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

Expressed oil of almonds, 9 fluid ounces; rose water, 3
fluid ounces; fine sodium borate, 33 grains; spermaceti, 1
ounce avoirdupois, 400 grains ; white wax, 1 ounce avoirdu-
pois, 370 grains.

For making the limbs plump enough to correspond with
a well developed body two methods are practicable. One
is to rub olive oil into the skin every night before retiring.
Or, if you prefer, a cold cream. Developing exercises that
will enlarge the muscles are, for the arms, twirling them in
large circles at the sides and holding them straight from the
shoulders. For enlarging the muscles of the legs a similar
exercise from the hips, swinging the leg in large, free cir-
cles, is valuable.

I am often asked if powder injures the skin. Pure rice
powder can do no harm if removed at night with cold cream.
Washing the face with water does not so effectually remove
powder. Take the powder off with cold [cream, which
mixes better with it. Then cleanse the face with warm
water and almond meal or oatmeal, or if you prefer it, with
soap.

Paris physicians, also those of the Russian court, have
withdrawn their objections to perfumes, and luxurious
women are using them more than ever. They are more
discreet and discriminating than formerly, relying more
upon perfumes used after the bath, when they can be well
absorbed into the skin, and causing them to remain longer
than by a hit-or-miss application of them upon the hair or
clothing. This, borrowed from England, is a delightful
tonic applied to the skin after the bath :

Rosemary, 6 ounces ; orange peel ground into fine powder,
Yz ounce; thyme, ounce; rosewater, 1 pint; spirit of
wine, 1 quart.

Bath bags filled with equal parts of orris root powder and
almond meal and bran are tossed into the baths instead of
soap, and are more refreshing and quite as whitening.

SURE AIDS TO BEAUTY

297

An anaemic friend finds her tepid bath much more refresh-
ing by adding to it a wine glass of this :

Eau de cologne, 1 ounce; spirits of camphor, y2 ounce;
tincture of benzoin, % ounce.

This is a new compound for the bath which I have used
for my refreshment when fatigued from travel :

Bromide of potassium, 1 gram; carbonate of calcium, 1
gram; carbonate of soda, 300 grams; sulphate of soda, 5
grams ; sulphate of iron, 3 grams ; sulphate of aluminum,
1 gram ; perfume to taste, either oil of lavender, oil of
thyme, oil of rosemary, 1 gram; tincture of stavisacre, 50
grams.

An anaemic condition is not always the cause of the lips
having a blue, parched appearance. Sometimes the cold
weather will make them look so. Anoint them morning
and night and before going out of doors with this solution :

Honey, 1 ounce ; eau de cologne, y2 ounce.

Or with this salve :

Olive oil, 1 ounce; white wax, 1 ounce; speimaceti, 1
dram.

A good salve for freshening chapped lips is :

Spermaceti, y2 ounce; oil of sweet almonds, 1 ounce;
white wax, y ounce; cochineal, 1 drop; oil of roses, 6
drops.

Good for the same purpose is this :

Olive oil, 5 drams ; white wax, 5 drams ; alkanet chips,
y2 dram.

Habits that mar beauty are as the little foxes that destroy
the vines. They are many and small and mischievous. I
mention some of them warningly for careless beauties, as
signposts point the way on country roads:

Don’t eat too much.

Don’t chew the lips.

Don’t bite the nails.

Don’t sit on your foot.

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

Don’t eat many sweets.

Don’t read in a dim light.

Don’t bathe in a cold room.

Don’t neglect a daily outing.

Don’t read or write facing a light.

Don’t sleep in ill-ventilated rooms.

Don’t read when the eyes are tired.

Don’t read or write on a moving train.

Don’t open the eyes upon a bright light.

Don’t stand with the shoulders forward.

Don’t stand with the abdomen thrust out.

Don’t let your hands or feet remain cold.

Don’t make faces when you talk or listen.

Don’t drink much wine. The less the better.

Don’t neglect to bathe your feet every night.

Don’t sit on the last three bones of your spine.

Don’t be afraid to yawn or stretch when alone.

Don’t thrust the hips far backward as you walk.

Don’t sit with one shoulder higher than the other.

Don’t stand with one hip higher than the other.

Don’t fail to sleep as many hours as you require.

Don’t wear too light weight clothing in winter.

Don’t sleep in a room crowded with draperies and rugs.
Don’t forget to visit your dentist once every three
months.

Don’t let the chin bury itself in the neck. Keep it high.
Don’t wear tight shoes or tight gloves or tight corsets.
Don’t brush or comb the hair roughly. The scalp is
tender.

Don’t go into the outer air directly after washing the
face.

Don’t be afraid of rain or snow. They are tonics and
beautifiers.

Don’t be discontented. Discontent engraves ugly lines
in the face.

SURE AIDS TO BEAUTY 299

Don’t fall asleep with the features drawn in anger, worry
or fatigue.

Don’t forget that the warm bath is a sedative; the cool
bath a stimulant.

Don’t use every new cosmetic you see advertised or hear
recommended.

Don’t wear clothing so heavy that its weight drags upon
the vital organs.

Don’t dwell upon unpleasant things. Dismiss them if
you value your beauty.

Don’t allow the skin to grow dry. A dry skin is the
parent of many wrinkles.

Don’t rest upon large pillows. They cause round shoul-
ders and double chins.

Don’t lie down for rest with your nerves and muscles
tied in small, hard knots.

Don’t forget that the reclining posture is a storehouse of
strength and beauty.

Don’t let the muscles grow flabby. Firm muscles give
the appearance of youth.

Don’t lead a too regular life. A varied programme is
better than an unvarying one.

Don’t keep your rooms either too hot or ;cold, but at an
even, moderate temperature.

Don’t be afraid to work, and to work hard. It is only
worry mingled with work that kills.

Don’t allow yourself to become ill. Every illness sub-
tracts from vitality and adds to apparent age.

Don’t think that when you have brushed your hair your
duty to your head is done. The scalp must be massaged.

Don’t wriggle the feet or fingers or hunch the shoulders.
Find other and less ugly outlets for your nervous energy.

Don’t moisten the lips with the tongue to make them
red. It will only cause them to roughen and chap.

Don’t forget that the eye bath, the nasal douche and the

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

mouth bath are part of the daily ceremonial of cleanliness.

Don’t forget for one moment that health is the basis of
beauty. And build your beauty upon that only sure foun-
dation.

Don’t neglect the protection for your skin when you go
out or the care for it when you come in from out of doors.

Don’t think that to keep the teeth beautiful they must
be continually brushed. After the daily brushing remem-
ber the mouth bath.

Don’t think you are ever too tired for the night toilet.
The face must always be washed and ;cold creamed at night
if you value your complexion.

Don’t, especially if you are slenderly built, permit the
shoulders and chest to sink. If you are too tired to hold
them up take a nap, or at least recline for a time.

CHAPTER XXII

THE BEAUTY’S PERSONALITY AND HER CLOTHES

HAVE you ever seen a jeweler at work making a gem
as fine and handsome as he can or as the nature of
the jewel will permit? That is what you must do for your-
self. Polish your personality.

The jeweler makes the jewel shine with all its possible
luster. That is what every woman should do for the gem
which is herself. The jeweler holds the gem to the light
to see what is its best angle and sets it so that that angle
is prominent. So should a woman do with her best feature.

Study yourself in silhouette. Place yourself before a
mirror so that you can see yourself as one would see you
who hurriedly brushed past you in the street. See your-
self sidewise. If you see that you have a good profile and
that the lines of your figure are graceful, keep your side
to the world, so to speak. Remember that this is your best
line and live up to it. Dress your hair so it will enhance
the profile, making it cameo like. If you discover a style
of dressing your hair that is becoming to you, and that
makes that profile stand out in finer relief, never mind
whether it is the fashion of to-day or of ten years ago.
Its beauty will be its excuse and will make it the fashion
for you. So in your gowning. If your figure has a better
silhouette when draped in full gathered and shirred effects
follow them. If, as is liable to be true if you have a full
figure, flat folds and tucks and bands are more becoming,
make abundant use of them.

Learn dressmaking yourself, if your means are limited,
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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

and learn to apply your own principles of dressing. Make
yourself individual. It costs but little to dress well if you
can make your own clothes. If you find that your front
view is better, face the world, as it were, instead of turning
your side to it.

I have heard of some women, " Her hair grows prettily.’*
When I have scrutinized their faces I have found that what
was meant by the phrase was that it grew in odd, attractive
little ripples or scallops about the face. Yet I have seen
the same women brushing their hair flat and pressing it
back in a hard, straight line from their faces. These hu-
man jewelers were neglecting one of the best angles of their
personality. I have seen women whose rich, thick hair
was their greatest charm draw back the hair from their
faces and twist it up in a hard little knot. I wanted to cry
out against this thoughtlessness.

I once overheard a pair talking while in the first stages
of love-making on board a transatlantic steamer. The man
said, “ You have beautiful eyes, but you don’t know how
to use them.” The next day as I saw her while on a deck
promenade I saw that he was right. She half covered them
with heavy, lazy looking lids. When she looked at any one
with them she looked with a slow, steady regard and with-
out a smile in them. If I had had eyes like that I should
have been most industrious with them. I would have
opened them very wide, very often every day. It would
have illuminated conversation, and promoted mutual under-
standing. And I would have taught them the pleasant
trick of smiling.

I know a woman of whom it has often been said : “ She

is handsome when she smiles, but she hardly ever smiles,”
and this should have been enough of a tip, as you say in
America. Yet it wasn’t. Whenever I saw her her lips
drooped. Her cheeks muscles relaxed. If anything
startled her out of herself she smiled, quickly, roguishly,

THE BEAUTY’S PERSONALITY

303

with a flash of intelligence and good humor that was entranc-
ing. Her smile transformed her from a plain, dejected
looking woman to a radiant, attractive one ten years younger
in appearance than she had looked a second before. If she
had polished her personality she would be always living up
to that smile.

I know another woman, more intelligent, though younger.
She has lovely, red-gold hair. At a time when it was
fashionable to wear hats that come low upon the face, com-
pletely hiding the hair, I said to her : “ And do you hide

your beautiful hair beneath the foolish fashions ? ”

“ No,” she answered. “ Somehow, I always manage to
show some of it. Perhaps I draw it back from the fore-
head a little more than the fashion requires. Or, I may tilt
it a little more to the side than is necessary. But I always
show my hair.” Polishing her personality, you see.

If a woman has a beautiful mouth she should be at more
pains than another to massage the lips to keep them full
and moist. She should massage the gums to keep them
strong and red. And of her teeth she should take infinite
care. Such a woman should smile and smile again, for fine
teeth and a fresh, sweet mouth are always attractive.

If she has a classic chin and a fine throat she should keep
the chin well up to reveal the line from chin to chest.

If her hands are pretty she should wear her sleeves short
enough to display them. If her hands are shapely and
tapering she should wear her sleeves still shorter.

If the lines of her throat and shoulder are good she
should form the Dutch collar and low necked habit. If her
figure is good she should emphasize that within the limits of
modesty.

In short make radiant your personality. Discover your
best points and keep, preserve and accent them. To use
•your plain Americanism : “ Keep your best foot for-

ward.”

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

Fashions change, but taste endures. Fashions come and
go, but becomingness is a fixed quantity.

The woman who is wise in her own beauty will make this
her creed. She will determine after much observation of
herself what is becoming to her and what is not, never to
cross the danger line between.

She will not aggressively defy fashion. She will adopt
its becoming modes, and adapt its unbecoming ones to the
point only of becomingness. But she will resolutely deter-
mine that she will wear nothing that will detract from her
beauty.

In the matter of dress, I have the courage of my convic-
tions. I will not wear that which I believe to be unbecom-
ing to me. Sometimes I may fancy I look well in what an-
other may not admire as a part of Cavalieri. In that I may
be mistaken. But I never consciously wear what makes me
look less well than I would otherwise.

For instance, you will observe from my photographs that
I almost never change the style of wearing my hair. Long
ago I found that flat waves drawn low upon my brow and
cheeks were becoming to me. In itself the style is a
trying one, but it happens to be becoming to my type of
face. The Italian women are almost the only nation that
can wear it to advantage. It seems to belong to the
large, soft eyes, straight nose and delicate chin of the race.
And so through the succeeding years I have worn them,
and because I looked well in them have worn them in the
morning, in the afternoon and in the evening, have worn
them to early musicales, to luncheons, to teas, for drives
and the opera. I have varied the style only when the times
or character I was playing in opera demanded that they be
changed.

It is my opinion that the woman who discovers the style
of hair dressing that is adapted to her individual style and

THE BEAUTY’S PERSONALITY

305

with some possible slight modifications, which are conces-
sions to the mode, preserves that general style until the
chiselling of the years has so changed her face that she re-
quires a different coiffure, is the clever woman. Such a
woman is Alexandra of England. The court hair dresser,
a great artist in his way, gave weeks to studying the coif-
fure that should best frame the facial charms of the
Princess of Wales.

He determined upon the present style. Queen Alexan-
dra dressed her hair in the same style for thirty years. It
is admirable for her long, patrician features, setting off their
mingled delicacy and strength, and her fine English color-
ing. In time she will doubtless change the style to one
softer and looser, calculated to lessen the effect of aging
features. But that time, happily, is far off for her gracious
Majesty. In general, it is true that preserving the same
outlines of a coiffure for most of a lifetime makes a woman
seem younger.

In general, too, these rules may be followed in choosing
the coiffure that shall be yours. Do not accentuate that
which nature has already accentuated too much.

If nature has given you a round, chubby face counteract
this too decided tendency by building the hair high. Give
the coiffure the effect of a pyramid. The one high point
at the top of the head will materially lengthen the face and
lessen the roundness which tends to insipidity. The high
coiffure will thus give distinction to a face that had lacked it.

If the forehead is too low comb the hair loosely back
from it. This will add to the alertness and intelligence of
the expression. If, on the other hand, nature has given
you the knobby, by which I mean what you call the intel-
lectual, forehead, the brow which is full and high and
broad, with projecting bumps, modify nature’s extreme by
training the hair to fall in loose tendrils upon it. Also

30 6

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

comb the rest of the hair, but loosely, from about it. Never
tightly, for that will give the drawn, frightened look which
nature has already carelessly bestowed.

If your face be broad, the high coiffure increases its ap-
parent length.

If yours be a slender countenance, then affect the low
coiffure, for its tendency is toward breadth.

If the face be broad, do not build the hair out loosely
about the ears. Instead comb it upward above the ears.

If the face be slender, its apparent breadth is added to
by the “ fluffing ” out of the hair about the ears.

If the face is angular, its hardness is reduced by a soft
arrangement of the hair.

In arrangement of the hair remember that balance is the
law of beauty, as it is of wisdom. For instance, balance
the heavy jaw by drawing the hair in a loose mass well for-
ward above the brow. Balance the snub nose by a loose
coiffure with no jutting protuberance at the back to suggest
that it is the corresponding pole of the nose.

As to color of the hair, it is my judgment that we would
better leave it as nature painted it. Nature is the greatest
colorist. She matches complexion, eyes and eyebrows per-
fectly with the hair. Transform your hair, and you will
be at the trouble of transforming your entire person.

We are not to blame for our hair, but we are to blame
for our hats. They must look as though they belonged to
us as our faces, our eyes, our teeth belong to us.

I always trim my own hats. First I began to trim them
because I had not the money to buy them or to pay for
trimming them. Now I trim them because no one can do
so to suit me.

I prefer simple hats, for the sufficient reason that they
are more becoming to me. But an overtrimmed hat is in-
artistic. It is ugly. It is vulgar. The hat should serve
its function of being a becoming frame for the face. The

THE BEAUTY’S PERSONALITY

307

head should not be a mere pedestal or milliner’s dummy
for a monstrous hat. Women answer criticisms of the ter-
rible travesties now worn, “ But they are the fashion.”
Yes, but who made them the fashion? You and you and
you. A fashion can be killed at its birth, in the shops of
Paris, if women will but determinedly say : “ No, no, no.

I do not like it. I shall not wear it. Show me others.”

Remember the law of balance. A woman with a taper-
ing chin should wear a hat built to a corresponding peak
at the top. The effect of these two peaks should be to
form an agreeable oval.

The round-faced woman’s safety of becomingness lies in
the hat in which angles predominate. It should have stiff
ribbon bows and sharp aigrettes, or pointed wings and
dagger-like ornaments. This woman will always be im-
proved, too, by wearing V effects in coats and wraps and
gowns.

The hornlike effects should be avoided by the woman
with sharp features. Her task of lending a semblance of
softness and roundness to her face is made easier by a hat
with a soft brim trimmed with a fall of lace or a shirring
of silk or velvet. Also the sharp-featured woman should
never wear a sailor hat. Neither should any woman over
twenty-five.

Here are some rules about dressing, so fundamental that
I would hesitate to give them were it not that every day I
drive down Fifth Avenue I see them flagrantly transgressed.

For instance, I see the short, stout woman wearing a
short, stout coat. The long, thin woman wears a long, thin
coat. That is, each woman, forgetting the law of balance,
has chosen that which accentuates what nature has already
overaccentuated. The short coat should have been worn
by the tall woman. It would have made her seem shorter.
The long coat should have been worn by the short woman
to disguise her brevity.

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

I see short women wearing horizontal trimming, when
they should have had lengthwise trimming, pointed trim-
ming or no trimming at all.

I see a tall, slender woman wearing a long cape, when
she could have divided her superabundant height in two by
wearing a short one.

I see a short woman wearing a flounce about her already
absurdly short skirt. By some perversity the short woman
tries to emulate the barrel and the tall woman 'the telegraph
pole.

The woman with a crane-like neck bares its funny length
to a grinning world, and the woman with a mere line where
a neck should be muffles that up with ruches that make her
look like a frightened setting hen.

If only they would have ever before them the thought,
■“What is becoming to me?” and put far behind them the
other question, “ What is the fashion ? ” then would women
dress artistically, not ridiculously.

I do not preach that which I am not willing to practice.
It happens that I do not like white. To me it is a dead,
trying color. Therefore I never wear it. I am told this
is to be a white season. I answer, “ It will not be for me.”
And I continue to wear blue or black on the street, and pale
shades of rose or blue or green or yellow at night. And
merely because it happens to be “ a white season ” people
do not forget to look at La Cavalieri in rose or yellow or
blue or green.

Let me recall to you the most beautiful of American
women, Maxine Elliott. One winter the coat covering the
hips, forming a second thickness of cloth upon them, was
fashionable. Did Miss Elliott wear it? Not at all. I
saw her wearing a very pronounced cutaway coat, one in
which the frock part of the coat was cut at the very middle
of her hips, so taking from instead of adding to the width

THE BEAUTY’S PERSONALITY 309

of her figure. And the Maxine Elliott hats ! Have you
noticed how like they are, no matter what the fashion?

Always beautiful, because of elegant, yet simple lines,
but more particularly beautiful because they are becoming
to their wearer. They are very little trimmed ; usually with
large, flat bows or low curving feathers. Almost always
they are black, or black with a touch of white, but al-
ways they look as though they were designed for or by
Miss Elliott, as I doubt not they are.

The lank woman must shun the V-shaped corsage as His
Satanic Majesty is said to avoid the bowl of Holy Water.
The broad corsage, draped with full flounces of lace or tulle,
will be most becoming.

In the same degree the stout woman must avoid the
corsage with round effects. She should seek the pointed
effects to counteract her redundancy of curves.

I will not go further into details on this subject. The
intelligent woman to whom this law of balance in dress has
been presented will work out successfully her own problems.

It applies as well to colors as to form. The high-colored
woman needs pale tinted colors to reduce her own exuber-
ance of color, while the neutral tinted woman, she with
light gray or blue eyes and ash-brown hair, requires in her
youth at least brilliant shades.

When buying your wardrobe I beg of you to think less
of the fashion plates displayed by your tailor and dress-
maker than of your own style.

Everyone has a style of her own, and that is good style
for her. One authority on woman’s dress even goes so
far as to urge women to know themselves so well as to
decide whether in their composition mind or soul or body
dominates. “ For,” according to this lecturer on womanly
beauty, “ each of these three parts of your composition is
represented by a color. If you are a woman of intense
spirituality you should wear much yellow, for that repre-

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MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

sents the soul. Should you lean more to the material side
of life you are best represented by red. If you are one of
the growing army of the intellectuals, this authority advises
wearing much of the mental color, which is blue.”

It occurs to me to inquire whether that is the reason why
women of strong mentality are often referred to as “ blue
stockings.” I do not wholly agree with this woman lec-
turer.

If, for instance, you are a red woman, why not wear
considerable yellow? It will give you a more soulful
aspect, and, if our manners react upon our characters, why
should not colors? Wearing the soul color may develop
latent soul qualities. Or the red woman, by wearing much
blue, might, to use a term of the stage, “ convey an illu-
sion ” of greater mentality than she has, and perhaps stir
that part of her self to greater activity.

It is an interesting theory, but may, perhaps, be pursued
to the point of attenuation. One quality I like so greatly
in you Americans is that you are practical, and theories so
tenuous as this I have quoted move you to laughter. I re-
call that when one of your authors wrote of the color of
individual auras and talked of a “ pink personality,” she
greatly interested the humorists. I leave with you this
theory to smile at or to adopt as you like.

But in what I shall say next I am most gravely serious.
That is that in selecting your wardrobe I would have you
think far more about your individuality than about the
passing fashion. I do not know what will be the next
caprice in furs. I do not care. Being tall and slight I
shall choose long-haired furs, as the silver fox, because, to
use an Americanism, I can “ carry them well.” But if you
who read this are short, and especially if you are short
and stout, wear short-skinned furs, as mink and seal and
sable, if you can afford them, for long-haired furs will
render you out of drawing, absurdly costumed.

THE BEAUTY’S PERSONALITY

3ii

While choosing your hats and wraps, your gowns and
gloves, be for once self-centered. Self-centeredness is ex-
cusable when one is shopping. It is in the direction of
economy, for if we think steadily of ourselves we will not
purchase a fur coat in which our sister looks adorable but
ourself ridiculous, and we will not order a gown that will
prove so unbecoming that we will give it away after once
or twice wearing it.

Keep in mind, after your own individuality, certain art
principles that apply to dress. This is a good one as to
color. “ Dress up to your eyes, your hair or your com-
plexion.” Permit me to explain. If a girl has brown eyes
she may not always wear brown gowns. But she can be
exceedingly careful to wear no tint that will make her
creamy skin look sallow. For her creamy shades are be-
coming, because they harmonize with her complexion.

If a girl has red hair she will be wise if she wears shades,
regardless of the tint of the moment, that will throw the
hair into relief — as blue, or green, or black. If a woman
has Irish eyes — that fascinating mixture of blue and gray,
that holds in its depths much of infant innocence yet much
of worldly wisdom, deep eyes that fascinate because they
are inscrutable — she will look her best in gowns that
match her eyes, the same indeterminate blue and gray.

Think of yourself steadily and not tenderly in the selec-
tion of stuffs. If you are thin and active, soft materials,
as chiffons, crepe de chines, light weight silks, will be
becoming. If you are of heavier habit, heavier silks and
broadcloths are more expressive and so more becoming.

The dividing line between the skirt and bodice is ugly.
If you cannot have a one part dress, then hide the dividing
line by a girdle. If you are stout, let the girdle be of the
same shade and material as the gown. If not slender, you
may safely wear a girdle of different shade than your gown.

Artists know the beauty of the straight line, and for a

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few seasons coutourieres have groped their way toward it.
Parallel lines running lengthwise are the lines of beauty in
dress because they consistently follow those of the figure.
For this reason a gown whose pronounced lines are from
the shoulder, the drapery curving slightly at the waist, give
grace and beauty to the figure. Trimmings that run
around the figure always lack beauty, and if of contrasting
material they have a ludicrous effect. The high girdle gives
an appearance of greater length to the limbs. The girdle,
if not of the same color and material, should not be of too
glaringly the opposite.

Remember that stiff effects are always inartistic, so avoid
the appearance of being trussed up, as a fowl in the oven
or soldier on parade. For this reason shun tight sleeves,
tight gloves, or skirts, so heavy or narrow that they make
your gait an awkward one. I am glad that fashion per-
mits the wearing of loose gloves. They give ease to the
hands and are far more graceful than the tight ones that
gave the hand the appearance of being stuffed into it.

When selecting your hat, a bit of brilliant color may be
introduced; but let it not be directly above the face, for it
will give to the face the illusion of being pale, whether it is
or not.

CHAPTER XXIII

ODDS AND ENDS OF BEAUTY CULTURE

HREE months recently in Russia and six months in

Paris taught me some new fads in the cultivation
of beauty. While you Americans are so clever, as well as
beautiful, you may not have heard of some of these. I
will, therefore, call the roll of those devices for the im-
provement of beauty which are finding present favor in
Europe, some of which seem to me to have considerable
scientific value.

But I ought to say that I have not myself personally used
or tested all of these rather heroic new methods. Not all
medical men are agreed on all things, especially on new
things, and I advise my readers to ask the advice of their
doctors on some of these matters.

There is, for instance, what is known as the vaccination
cure for pimples. Pimples I have called “ spots on the sun
of beauty.” Spots, whether on a frock or a face, are dis-
figuring, and it is desirable to remove them as soon as pos-
sible. Inoculation by a special form of vaccine is the latest
method adopted by the medical profession. It has been in
many cases very successful. The only objection is that it
is still comparatively expensive.

The new theory is that pimples are caused by the pres-
ence of malefic germs. A culture is made of these germs
in beef broth. The fluid is then rendered sterile by heating
it to the boiling point. A small vialful of this broth con-
tains hundreds of millions of the germs. While the germs
themselves are dead, the peculiar poison generated by them
remains. The treatment is given by a hypodermic injec-

314

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

tion. This poison is destructive to the living organisms,
and in a few weeks’ treatment obstinate cases of pimples
have been completely cured by the welcome new process.

For obstinate cases of acne some advanced physicians are
utilizing the X-ray. Blackheads are always disfiguring.
Certain physicians have adopted the principle that these
micro-organisms lodge in the follicles from which spring
the small hairs that form a down on the cheeks. These
micro-organisms spread fast and cause inflammation. The
X-ray is summoned to check the spread of the inflamma-
tion. This they do without danger to the skin. After
three or four treatments the face looks as though it were
badly sunburned. This appearance remains, it seems to
the patient, discouragingly long, but the results are most
gratifying in every case I have studied. The acne has been
permanently removed and the complexion left beautifully
clear.

A third scientific treatment of great aid to beauty is the
removal of scars by an injection, locally, of a healing serum,
beneath the skin. Its function is to loosen the structure,
relax the drawn tissues and smooth the surface that had
been, to use an Americanism, “ puckered.” There is in this
last remedy the element of risk that always obtains when a
foreign substance is injected into the circulation.

Because of this element the method has not the entire
endorsement of the medical profession.

A method that has great vogue just now is the new or
modified massage called patting. This is accepted by those
who have always been consistent enemies of massage as it
is generally given. Their theory is that massage, as many
have known it, merely moves the wrinkles from one part of
the face to another. Patting, they declare, does not drag
the skin, but builds up the muscles and promotes the circu-
lation. The name is a well-fitting one. Patting is done
very lightly with the tips of the fingers.

ODDS AND ENDS OF BEAUTY CULTURE 315

The nose clamp is a new and amusing device adopted by
beauties and would-be beauties to prevent the spreading of
the nostrils and to give the nose, that would otherwise be
too round, a delicate point. I have called on my friends in
the morning and have been received in their bedrooms.
They looked very charming in their night robes of delicate
batiste, embroidered and further ornamented with pink
and blue bows, not pink and blue bows on different gowns,
but combined in the same gown. Their hair carefully
parted from the point of the forehead to the back of the
neck, and braided in two loose braids, either hangs becom-
ingly over their shoulders, one braid tied with a blue bow,
the other with a pink, to match the ribbon garniture of the
night robe, or is twisted loosely around the head. Their
complexions looked fresh and cool from their bath of cold
cream, but they all looked odd, and I shrieked with laughter
at them because they wore nose clamps. One who disliked
the touch of the cold metal substituted the homely do-
mestic article, the clothespin. Both the clamp and the
clothespin are well protected by a lining of white silk or
velvet. Absurd as these things look, I was assured by all
who wore them that they served admirably their purpose.

Ice has come to be one of the first aids of beauty. It is
used after massage of the face and neck to harden the
muscles. I find women using it to drive away wrinkles
and this seems to me scientific, for while the shock of the
first application will drive the blood from the surface, it
causes it to rebound, bringing a fine flush to the skin and
feeding the neglected and shrunken tissues.

Whatever renews the tissues eradicates wrinkles.

Many physicians are endorsing sulphur facial baths to
cure acne. This lotion is applied several times a day, they
told me, with good results:

Rose water, 4 ounces; precipitate of sulphur, 1 dram;
tincture of camphor, 1 dram.

MY SECRETS OF BEAUTY

316

Women are beginning to realize that sagging muscles,
rather than a superabundance of flesh, are the cause of the
double chin. They are preventing, as far as possible, the
falling cheek muscles and the pendulousness of the chin
muscles by hardening them with lumps of ice held in the
hand and pressed against those muscles as long as the pres-
sure can be endured; also by wearing chin bandages.

First the fancy, then the fad, then the flitting. This is
the history of most announced discoveries of the means to
heighten beauty. They have their little hour of disciple-
ship; their impulsive following; their period of vanishing.
Yet beneath nearly all the beauty fads there is a more or
less well applied principle of science.

For instance, there is the rubber chin band. The band to
control the usurping flesh of the double chin was first of
muslin. Then it was improved by the use of elastic. Now
it has evolved to its best state, that of strong yet light
rubber, made with a throat latch resembling the lower part
of a horse’s halter. Attached by a clasp on either side are
straps that fasten at the top of the head. The original idea
of compressing the flesh so that it would form in a smaller
and becoming mold was sound, but the later idea of using
rubber appeals still more to common knowledge. The
wearing of rubber next to the skin causes perspiration.

Therefore, the rubber band will not only hold the flesh
of the pendulous chin in place, but by causing free perspira-
tion it will gradually reduce its size. The rubber band,
worn at night, and frequently during the day, for a half
hour or more at a time, is the best cure for the double chin
the new year has offered us.

The aged hand has been a source of much mortification
and anxiety to the woman who has left her thirties and her
forties behind her. Yet electricity, that prime aid in the
rejuvenation of beauty, has come to her aid, and now the
woman who has a good many years to her credit, but who

ODDS AND ENDS OF BEAUTY CULTURE 317

does not care to admit that balance, goes to the beauty par-
lors, settles back comfortably in a reclining chair, and re-
news the youth of her hands by electrical treatment.

The operator traces over the hand again and again, round
and round, focussing most on the base of the back near the
wrist a small electrical machine attached to a light battery.
The skin of Madame’s hands begins to tingle. The blood
rushes in a flood to the surface. In a few days she notices
that the ugly furrows, trenches dug by the cruel spade of
time, are being filled up. After a little longer time they are
entirely filled and present an even surface. The hand has
been plumpened.

The work of rejuvenation has been done. With occa-
sional renewals of this treatment, combined with much
nightly feeding of the hands with a plumpening oil or cold
cream, they will keep their renewed youthfulness.

Either of the following creams I recommend for that
purpose :

Spermaceti, 6 ounces ; white wax, 2 ounces ; oil of
almonds, 16 ounces; glycerine, 4 ounces; rosewater, 4
ounces ; borax, 1 ounce ; oil of rose, 20 minims ; extract of
jasmine, 1 ounce.

This whitens as well as plumpens the hands:

Alcohol, 3 ounces ; glycerine, 2 ounces ; cologne, 2 drams ;
boric acid, 4 grains; quince seed, drams; carbolic acid,
10 grains; glycerine of starch, 2 ounces; oil of lavender, 20
drops; distilled water, 2 pints.

A soothing and whitening, as well as feeding, cream is
this :

Cucumber essence, 1 pint; cucumber juice, 2 ounces; oil
of almonds, 1 pint; olive oil, 1 ounce; white wax, 1 ounce;
spermaceti, 1 ounce.